Fig ivy wood

[the learner]

I had trimmed some fig ivy in my back yard last year and had saved several crooked pieces and set off to the side. This week I cleaned them up and removed the bark. The wood is cream color, has no visible grain and the wood is hard as all get out. Has any one ever used this wood or know where I can find information about wood and has any one in the Community used this wood?

[Louie da fly]

Sounds really interesting. I've never used this but I'd be interested to know how it behaves.

[Bob Cleek]

It's sure not very well known, but that doesn't mean it's not good for modeling. Backyard ornamentals can produce some great modeling wood, too small for commercial purposes, but still great for small stuff. 

 

It's basically a climbing fig and part of the large ficus family. It's not in the wood database online.  This may be of some interest::

 

https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Ficus_(PROSEA_Timbers)

[the learner]

Yes i spent several hours on internet looking for reference to fig ivy wood before i posted this here, the next step will be the library ... a little difficult right now.

 

I can not believe how hard it is!

[the learner]

Bob Thanks for the link!

 

https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Ficus_(PROSEA_Timbers)

 

A prostrate or climbing shrub, reaching up to 10 m or more, creeping and clinging close to walls or tree trunks by means of numerous aerial rootlets, ultimate branches 30-80 cm long, erect.

Leaves dimorphous, two-ranked, on sterile branches ovate, 1.5-3 cm long and shortly petioled, on fertile branches oblong, 5-10 cm long and with long petioles; figs solitary in the axils of leaves, pyriform, 40-60 mm long, yellow-brown pilose when young, ripening glabrous, red to dark blue.

Male flowers in many rows, filling the distal half of the fig, stipitate with 2-3 stamens, female flowers sessile or shortly stipitate.

F. pumila is an increasingly common feature in urban areas.

 

I will definitely save as much of the larger pieces that  I can when I do cut it down, this plant will take over and does grow fast!

[Jaager]

A close reading of the information supplied by the link indicates that this is a genus whose wood would not be all that useful for scale model work.

The required effort, I would spend on harvesting fruit wood.   The various citrus species possibly available should yield much better stock.  If the desert

allows for, any of the street side ornamental Pear species produce worthwhile wood stock.  If small parts such as blocks are a target,  Briar and Boxwood and Hawthorn

repay any effort spent on their harvest.