Editing Ficus macrophylla (section)

==Description==
''Ficus macrophylla'' is an [[evergreen]] tree that can reach heights of {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name = Starr2003>{{cite web | last1=Starr | first1= Forest| last2=Starr|first2= Kim | last3= Loope | first3= Lloyd | url=http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/reports/pdf/ficus_macrophylla.pdf | title=''Ficus macrophylla'' – Moreton bay fig – Moraceae | publisher= United States Geological Survey—Biological Resources Division | location=Haleakala Field Station, Maui, Hawai'i | year= 2003| access-date=20 April 2018}}</ref> The trunk can be massive, with thick, prominent [[buttress root|buttressing]], and reach a diameter of {{convert|2.4|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Floyd09"/> The rough bark is grey-brown,<ref name=Hallstreet>{{cite book|title=A Field Guide to Australian Trees |last=Holliday |first=Ivan |year=1989 |publisher=Hamlyn Australia |location=Melbourne, Victoria |isbn=978-0-947334-08-6 |page=198}}</ref> and marked with various blemishes.<ref name=Fairley/> The Lord Howe form of Moreton Bay fig has a habit of dropping [[aerial root]]s from its branches, which upon reaching the ground, thicken into supplementary trunks which help to support the weight of its crown.<ref name="nsw flora">{{cite web|last1=Harden|first1=Gwen J.|title=Ficus macrophylla Desf. ex Pers.|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Ficus~macrophylla|website=New South Wales Flora online|publisher=NSW Herbarium|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref> The largest specimen of the Lord Howe Island subspecies, around the year 1900, covered {{convert|7|acre|ha|abbr=off|spell=in}} of ground.<ref>{{cite book | last= anonymous | date= 1912 |  title=New Practical Reference Library _ article "banyan" |  location= Kansas City | publisher= Robert W. Fowler, publisher | page= <unpaginated>}}</ref>  The largest specimen of the mainland subspecies reported in a credible source was one reported by forester C.E. Pemberton which was {{convert|232|ft|m|abbr=off}} in height and {{convert|101|ft|m|abbr=off}} to the first branch.<ref>Condit, Ira, "Ficus - The Exotic Species" Univ. of California page 115</ref>

The leaves and branches bleed a milky sap if cut or broken. The figs are {{convert|2|–|2.5|cm|in|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} in diameter, turning from green to purple with lighter spots as they ripen;<ref name = Starr2003/> ripe fruit may be found year-round,<ref name=Fairley/> although they are more abundant from February to May.<ref name="Floyd09"/> It is a rainforest plant and in this environment more often grows in the form of an [[epiphyte|epiphytic]] strangler vine than that of a tree. When its seeds land in the branch of a host tree it sends aerial, "strangler" roots down the host trunk, eventually killing the host and standing alone.<ref name="Floyd09"/> It is [[monoecious]]: each tree bears functional male and female flowers.<ref name = Dixon2003/> As indicated by its specific epithet, it has large, elliptic, leathery, dark green leaves, {{convert|15|-|30|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long, and they are [[phyllotaxis|arranged alternately]] on the stems. The fruit is known as a [[syconium]], an inverted inflorescence with the flowers lining an internal cavity.