The plant is native to Australia (Northern Territory and Queensland), Bhutan, Cambodia, China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan and Yunnan), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand and Viet Nam, where it grows in the humid forests up to about 800 m of altitude.

It is an evergreen, up to about 20 m tall tree, with trunk up to 50 cm of diameter, with smooth greyish white bark and ample crown with possible production of aerial roots from the main branches; the young branches are pendulous. When adult, it may resist to exceptional decreases of temperature down to about -3 °C for a very short time, even if damage of the foliage.

It is not particular for what the soil is concerned, even if poor, and may resist, adult, to drought periods; it has also a moderate resistance to the wind and the saltiness and bears fairly well the prunings. Negative aspects are the abundant production of fruits, annoying when they fall on areas of passage, and the rooting apparatus, superficial and invasive, which is to be carefully counted for by the time of the planting.

 As pot plant, it’s one of the most popular for indoor decoration, in its countless varieties, even variegated, and is to be cultivated in much luminous location at temperatures over the 12 °C.

Watering must be abundant in summer, avoiding, in any case, the stagnations which may reveal dangerous, and allowing the soil to dry up almost completely before giving water again; moderate in winter.

When in apartment, the most frequent problem is the unexpected fall of the leaves: if the phenomenon is limited and takes place by early winter, it is matter of a normal leaves replacement, if important, the causes may be various, a fairly frequent one is the change of the position as it is a plant which does not like the displacements; if these ones are necessary, a hydro soluble fertilization, given some days before, may be of help in overcoming the crisis and in minimizing the loss of the foliage. Other causes may be insufficient light, low temperature, too dry atmosphere, current of air and sudden variations of temperature.

The prunings, moderate, are to be done by the end of winter in order to maintain a compact shape.

available on request