Ficus petiolaris, commonly known as the petiolate fig and rock fig, is a fig that is endemic to Mexico from Baja California and Sonora south to Oaxaca. It grows from 10–20 feet high. A unique feature is white hairs on the vein axils.
Ficus petiolaris, commonly known as the petiolate fig and rock fig, is an unusual caudexed fig up to of 8-15 m tall that often grow on sheer canyon walls, cliffs, and mountain rocks. The roots grasp and cascade down the surface as if melted and poured over the rock face. If the roots reach moist soil the plant develops into a tree (to 25 m in tropical canyons), other-wise it may remain dwarfed as a shrub, or stunted as dwarf shrubs when freeze damaged at higher elevations, especially at the northern limits). The leaves are heart shaped, glaucous green above and with a tuft of whitish hairs on the vein axils underneath. The flowers and fruits are green with red and velvety spots. The foliage is evergreen or sometimes drought deciduous. The papery yellow bark and purple-veined cordate leaves, as well as the grotesque shape, make this fig a most striking object. It is grown in desert vivaria and can be trained to look like bonsai. Young plants have bulbous bases (caudexes) that persist for many years in cultivation.
