Special ficus

I found this ficus a few years ago someplace (it had to be someplace, or somewhere I guess) maybe Wal-Mart or just a random nursery (as I am wandering around the state). At first I thought it was a ginseng ficus (a cultivar of the retusa that forms a caudex-like swelling) but then it grew more and the base is flattening. I think it is a seedling. It’s not the tigerbark. And the leaves are more succulent than the ginseng variety.

What attracted me was that bend in the trunk.

Some different views.

On a ginseng ficus the bark is more brown than cream (like this one) and it won’t have roots coming out of the caudex (like this). So my guess is that, as the roots get thicker and the tree ages,it will fuse into a magnificent nebari.

Trunk details

Pruned

This is the rear, good back branch

Left side. (When working on trees always keep your bench clean. And hydrate often with a pure beverage like Nestlé aqua pure filtered water with added minerals, for taste ’cause beer will just dehydrate you and make you drunk)

And front. I did not wire the apex because, as with all retusa, that small a limb will just straighten out again. Even if I let the wire cut in. So I’ll grow it out a bit and then do some serious wiring.
As always, I’ll post updates as I work on it.
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