It was originally discovered in the late 1960’s in a plant nursery in Southern Florida. Fortunately its potential for bonsai was apparent and it was quickly adopted for bonsai due its small leaf size, good branching, excellent aerial roots, and lovely basal flare.

There is some controversy as to the first person to discover this material with several people in Southern Florida having been noted as the discoverer.

Ficus salicaria
Growing in the ground, Willow Leaf is a smallish tree up to approximately 12-15 feet tall. Fertile seed is not formed so all propagation is vegetative. I am aware of no instances of fertile seed in cultivation although figs/syconia are formed with regularity.

Varieties
There is only one known variation of Willow Leaf. This variant originated in Jim Smith’s collection in Florida. Jim is without doubt one of the best bonsai growers and artists in the USA. His extensive work with Willow Leaf, which he feels is correctly called Ficus salicifolia (according to Condit), has helped to put this remarkable species on the map. After a cold snap and freeze in 1989 Jim noted that some of his ground planted Willow Leaf's began showing a variation from normal. The leaves of the variant were longer, wider and their twigging a bit more coarse. He named this cultivar Ficus ‘1989’. Jim’s belief is that the freeze of 1989 changed the nature of the salicaria and that the 1989 tree may be more like the original or parent form from which the finer Willow Leaf was derived.

Research and Speculation

In my research growing numerous figs and cultivars it is interesting that several Figs seem to me to be similar in nature and may suggest the origin of Willow Leaf.

1. Ficus salicaria/Willow Leaf fig, Ficus salicaria '1989', - Identical genetics with similar leaves, similar bark, similar aerial tendency, similar buds, leaves etc. '1989' is a clone showing coarser growth and larger leaves than salicaria. Ficus salicifolia is a totally different plant from the South Africa which can be seen at http://www.figweb.org/Ficus/Subgenus_Urostigma/Section_Urostigma/Subsection_Urostigma/Ficus_salicifolia.htm and clearly is not the parent plant of Willow Leaf.

2. Ficus schumacheri - this plant was observed in San Diego in private collections. The exact ID of these plants as Ficus schumacheri is unclear at this time. Syconia were present and to my eyes were identical to Willow Leaf/salicaria. The leaves, bark, stipules seem quite similar to Willow Leaf but the leaves are thicker in textue and larger but similar to salicaria and 'Mexicana'.

3. Ficus 'Mexicana' - this is a fig given to me some years ago by bonsai friend, orchid specialist, Leo Schordje, http://www.schordje.com . Leo stated the plant to be from Chiapas, Mexico so I call it 'Mexicana' but of course this is not a scientific name. It has leaves much larger than Willow Leaf or '1989' but otherwise very similar to salicaria- unfortunately no syconia have grown up to this time. Bark, aerials, stipules all seem like a larger form of salicaria.

4. Ficus 'ExoticaJS' - a fig in bonsai culture mainly distributed by Jim Smith of Vero Beach Florida to the bonsai trade. This is not the same tree as Ficus benjama 'Exotica' shown in Tropica etc. which appears to be a benjamina clone. 'ExoticaJS' has synconia that to my eye are identical to Willow Leaf. Its bark similar to Willow Leaf, aerial root tendency is less, coarser growth with larger, especially wider leaves and a blunter apex as compated to salicaria.

Conclusion
It appears to me that all these plants are fairly closely related. Often with cultivars the large leaf forms are the parent species and the smaller leaf forms are selected clones. Ficus 'Mexicana' has the largest leaves followed by Ficus schumacheri, Ficus 'ExoticaJS' and next '1989' and the smallest of all is salicaria.

The long and ongoing puzzle of the origin of Willow Leaf may be that it is in fact a selected clone of schumacheri or 'ExoticaJS' or 'Mexicana'.

With genetic testing this long-lasting puzzle may finally be solved. The bonsai world anxiously awaits some clear answers.

* Berg, C.C. 2004. A new species of Ficus (Moraceae) of uncertain provenance. Brittonia 56(1): 54-57

Immature syconia Willow Leaf/Ficus salicaria

Immature syconia '1989' appear identical to salicaria