Tangled web of Ficus nomenclature

Moo

Greets, folks. I'm relatively new to the bonsai game, but have been reading/surfing (and hopefully learning) ravenously from day one. I've got 11 trees and proto-trees going on my balcony and love watching them grow. Anyway, no need to bore you with additional newbie details, blah blah blah.

I'm writing because the Ficus nomenclature out there is a complete mess. Half the time, it seems like dealers make up their own names. My favorite so far has been "Ficus corkscrew." Right. I don't know what the proper latin conjugation for "corkscrew" would be, but I can assure you that is not correct! So, does the one with the golf ball braided in the trunks become F. golfball? F. golfballei? Anyway, as an entomologist, this sort of waffling drives me bananas. I'm used to a single name for every organism on this planet....barring hybrids, but there are rules for those too! Anyway, enough ranting.

What is the deal with the Ficus retusa names? I have seen at least 8-9 different colloquial names for this species (if I can trust the species ID). I understand that plant people like varieties, etc., but many of the variety names also seem interchangeable with identical images on different sites! There is a reason I want to know aside from being a insufferable pedant; I've been looking for F. retusa (or "microflora" "microflora" or "nitida" or "who knows what else") stock online and at nurseries. The only reliable source for anything other than F. benjamina is a plant that is commonly called "ginseng Ficus" on the `Net. It has the large bulbous roots that are often about 2/3 of the plant's height above ground. Are these things F. retusa (the staff at the nursery had no idea)? All the ones I've seen at the nursery seem to have no branches whatsoever. They possess a round clump of leaves at the top of a short trunk on top of those huge roots.

Given how popular Ficus seem to be as bonsai material, I expected to be able to find a guide that would unravel all these name mix-ups, but haven't run into it yet. If there is one, please point me to it. Also, if you know what this "ginseng ficus" will end up looking like, please give me a pic, link, or description. Maybe I'll just pick one up and see what it turns into. Thanks.

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pootsie

"Ginseng ficus" is also known as bonsaius crappus -- don't waste your $$$ on those. As to the rest ... join the confusion.

Collective experience tells us that the name given by the seller often correlates better with sales figures than with known rules of nomeclature.

I'm sure that confusion is rampant in the bug world. It's even worse when there's a buck to be made.

As for F.retusa, fka & aka F.microcarpa, there are some popular variants such as "tiger bark" and "goldengate." There are lots of variants of f.benjamina popular in bonsai, like "too little" and "kiki" etc.

... never heard of a corkscrew, but the golf ball thing is well known as "commercial cheese."

good luck!

pootsie

__________________
p.s. My cat is a bonsaiTALK Master.
Columbus Bonsai Society

pootsie

Ohh, I forgot to mention, buying bonsai online is tricky because you may be steered to "bonsaiboy" or "red envelope" or "1-800-flowers," where they have no idea what they are selling but will charge you 10 times what it's worth.

You live in Cali -- so you are close to some good bonsai sources in person. Get some references from local club members or someone you can trust. If you do buy online, you should also get some refs b4 laying out the $$$

pootsie

__________________
p.s. My cat is a bonsaiTALK Master.
Columbus Bonsai Society

RonMartin(deceased)

Never thought I would say this but Horse pucky. You are totally wrong.

Moo

Thanks for the reply, Pootsie. I'll keep looking, but I hate to buy anything online unless I know exactly what it looks like. Driving around So. Cal looking for yet another nursery is also not much fun, but I should stop complaining.

You mentioned two popular variants of F. retusa. What is nice about each of those?

Addition: I should contact those people I got some cards from at the Huntington Botanical Gardens bonsai show. Always seems to be something else on the docket, tho'.

pootsie

Well, Ron, you are the only one surprised that you've said "horse pucky"
The rest of us are quite prepared for such an event
(I'm only joking, of course -- I keed, I keed)

I speak only from my own experience that I've never seen a ginseng ficus that I liked. I am more than willing to look at a nice one, and I will gladly change my mind.

I'm just trying to make sure Moo doesn't get a mallsai from pro-flower$.scam without knowing there are better places to spend his dough.

pootsie

__________________
p.s. My cat is a bonsaiTALK Master.
Columbus Bonsai Society

Moo

Pootsie,

No worries there. I'm picky about the nursery stock material I've picked up so far. The bonsai nursery I patronize most often is legit (even if they don't speak English well or know names reliably) even if the prices are a bit steep for a beginner. I don't remember what they were charging for the ginsengs, but they were in 6" pots. It's "House of Bonsai" in Lakewood, CA, if anybody has any caveats or adulations to bestow. I'd like an idea of value too. I think they had trunk chopped Malus with maybe 2" trunk and about 6-7" height starting at $50. Korean hornbeams around $60 for about 12". I can't remember what the Japanese hornbeams were going for. Shimpaku junipers were $25 for a 6" pot and 10" tree. What I really DO like about the place is that all of their material seems robustly healthy.

Ralph

FWIW
I ran "ginseng ficus bonsai" through google images, which is what I always do, if I want to see if a particular tree/plant might make a credible bonsai. It tends to work rather well. In this case, crappus is all that comes up in the images. :
http://images.google.com/images?q=g...us+bonsai&hl=en

Now run nerifolia ficus bonsai through the googler, and more promising images are revealed:
http://images.google.com/images?svn...+bonsai&spell=1

__________________
Emerging from winter slumber
Bonsai trees burst buds anew
Spring is upon us!


-Paul S.

Sohei

The ficus genus has over 700 species and most are not suitable for bonsai. Many of these have different common names. The f. microcarpa is one of the better ones for bonsai.

The ginseng ficus is difficult to branch and twig so it is not really a good species for bonsai.

I have visited and purchased trees from House of Bonsai in Lakewood. I have found the material to be very good and Vicky helpful. I would recommend this nursery to anyone and it is always a stop when I visit the L.A. area.