Indian laurel

Urostigma microcarpa (Linnaeus f.) Miquel

Trees , evergreen, to 30 m. Roots aerial, abundant, sometimes developing pillar-roots. Bark gray. Branchlets brown, glabrous. Leaves: stipules 0.7-0.9 cm; petiole 0.5-1 cm. Leaf blade elliptic, obovate to ovate, 3-11 × 1.5-6 cm, thinly leathery, base obtuse to cuneate, margins entire, apex nearly acute to acuminate; surfaces abaxially and adaxially glabrous; basal veins 1(-2) pairs; lateral veins 5-9 pairs, uniformly spaced. Syconia paired, sessile, purple or black, obovoid, pyriform, or nearly globose, 9-11 × 5-6 mm; subtending bracts ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-3.5 mm, apex obtuse to subacute; ostiole closed by 3 flat, apical bracts 2-2.5 mm wide, umbonate.

Flowering all year. Disturbed sites; 0-20 m; introduced; Fla.; West Indies; native to Eastern Hemisphere.

Ficus microcarpa is commonly cultivated in Florida. At press time, word had been received (Michael O'Brien, pers. comm.) that F . microcarpa was recently found in the Los Angeles area, where the pollinating wasp apparently has been present since 1992. Voucher specimens are not yet available.