Plant of the Month – Ficus Triangularis

In the interior world it’s not that often that we get a plant that’s new and different from the common Palm or Dracaena.  That’s why, Ficus triangularis is definitely a top pick when it comes to an unusual specimen plant that will stand out and woo your guests. My Mom just fell in love with this plant the first time she saw it, reminding her of her Gingko biloba trees and their fan-shaped leaves.

The leaves of Ficus triangularis are by far the main attraction, with their very cool triangle shape and dark stem coming out of the tips creates contrast on this free-formed plant.

These native Malaysian plants are rare, so when you see them, I would recommend grabbing them while you can.  I bought a beautiful 6 foot specimen for my Mom on Mother’s Day and told her that I’d take care of it for her (knowing how little care it would need).

Being in the Ficus family, these plants need at least medium to bright light and don’t want to be over watered.  I sub-irrigated my Mom’s in a Jardiner and water it about every other week, right now since it’s been hot.   The dark green, fleshy leaves seem to de-tract dust and only fall when you’ve stressed it out, unlike it’s Ficus benjamina relative that seem to rain leaves on a regular basis. I’d consider Ficus triangularis to be a clean interior plant, even with it’s yearly production of pea-sized green figs that dry up and fall off the tree in the summer months. This small nuisance is forgivable given all of the other wonderful aspects of this beauty.  It can grow about 8 feet max and 4 feet wide, but with their slow growth they could easily controlled at shorter heights making Ficus triangularis an excellent choice for any amateur interior plant enthusiast.