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Strangler Fig

Ficus aurea

Found in hammocks, strand swamps. Often seen girdling bald cypress. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you

65
Strong

Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 24%

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At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 26 Florida counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 2

Swamps

Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp
Regional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal swamps, Florida to Virginia; state not identified, a neighboring state.Loblolly bay in a coastal swamp, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal Plain hammocks

Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 159 animals.

All wildlife of Florida

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

25CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Ficus

  • Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
  • Amyelois transitellaNavel Orangeworm
  • Automeris ioIo Moth
  • Banisia myrsusalisSapodilla Borer Moth
  • Eacles imperialisImperial Moth, Imperial Spiny Caterpillar
  • Erechthias minusculaCaribbean Scavenger Moth
  • Euclea delphiniiSpiny Oak-Slug Moth
  • Glyphodes pyloalisBeautiful Glyphodes, Mulberry Moth
  • Hemerophila divaDiva Hemerophila Moth
  • Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
Show all 25
  • Lymire edwardsiiEdwards' Wasp Moth
  • Marpesia eleucheaAntillean Daggerwing
  • Marpesia petreusRuddy Daggerwing
  • Megalopyge opercularisSouthern Flannel Moth, Puss Caterpillar
  • Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
  • Pachylia ficusFig Sphinx, Large Fig Hornworm
  • Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
  • Prionoxystus robiniaeCarpenterworm Moth, Black Locust Borer, Cottonwood Borer
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
  • Tortyra slossoniaSlosson's Metalmark Moth, Ficus Budworm
  • Azochis rufidiscalis
  • Ornarantia dyari
  • Tortyra iocyaneus
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
1BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Ficus

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
12BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Ficus

  • Aphelocoma californicaCalifornia Scrub-Jay
  • Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
  • Catharus ustulatusSwainson's Thrush
  • Icterus bullockiiBullock's Oriole
  • Melospiza melodiaSong Sparrow
  • Patagioenas leucocephalaWhite-crowned Pigeon
  • Pheucticus melanocephalusBlack-headed Grosbeak
  • Pipilo maculatusSpotted Towhee
  • Sialia mexicanaWestern Bluebird
  • Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
Show all 12
  • Tyrannus tyrannusEastern Kingbird
  • Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Moraceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rankS4
Global rankNot available
FL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source

In your garden

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Sources