Seedling Figs

This is normal. Taxonomists won’t consider Ficus carica leaf shapes “stabilized” until the plant has been grown strictly outdoors for a number of years and matured into a tree of moderate size with identifiable scaffolding. Here are the two criteria they use:

  • Predominate number of lobes at the third leaf on branch
  • Leaf texture

Even then there is variability. As a general rule, morphology should never be used for cultivar identification. Instead it can be helpful to identify what a specimen is not. For example, a maturing specimen continuously growing outdoors year-round with only paddle-shaped leaves is not F. carica.