Ficus Species, Licumo, Mistletoe Fig, Natal Fig

I have grown this sp. as a houseplant for quite a while; it needs a very bright place and quite a lot of water for a fig. One plant I thr...Read Moreew outside thinking it was doomed, actually recovered and is making progress.

Scientific nerdy stuff:
After doing some research, I have come to the conclusion that Berg's 1988 combination of this taxa into natalensis is without sufficient support. More recent chemotaxonomic works show significant evidence that several of the "subspecies" that Berg created when he combined the many taxa into the super-species natalensis, are in fact full species. One paper showed that while there is frequent hybridization between them, several of these taxa have a set of unique characteristics and differing pollenators, and perhaps are worthy of being elevated to full species (but that author did not elect to publish them). The taxa leprieurii / triangularis has a huge range, a wide range of pollenators, and yet a consistent morphology. As I observed, it does not resemble the other taxa that clearly are a part of the F. natalensis complex. I could not find any papers using current genetic analysis techniques for these taxa. Hopefully, future chemotaxonomic analysis will make the relationships clearer.

References:
New taxa and combinations in Ficus (Moraceae) of Africa, Berg, C.C., Kew Bulletin 1988
Morphological variability of the leaf epidermis in selected taxa of the genus Ficus L. (Moraceae) and its taxonomic implications, M.Klimko, M.Truchan, Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 2006
Chemotaxonomic significance of leaf alkanes in species of Ficus (Moraceae), MA Sonibare, AA Jayeola - Biochemical Systematics & Ecology, 2005

This is a short fig tree, cultivated as a shrub, reaching around 3m tall. It has triangular (rarely obovated), thick, bright green leaves...Read More. It produces yellow figs that are eaten by birds.

It´s a very similar plant, possibly closely related to Ficus deltoidea (Delta Fig). They share the same leaf shape and round, yellow figs, but F. deltoidea´s branches are more dense than F. leprieurii, making the first more suitable for topiary. F. leprieurii is also taller, and the main vein in the leaf splits in two near the tip, while in F. deltoidea, the main vein splits in two near the base of the leaf.