Ficus altissima is a large, evergreen forest tree, growing to 30 m (98 ft), with a spreading crown and often multiple buttressed trunks and characteristic of its subgenus Urostigma.

Its range includes the Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, South China and the Malesia region.

[4] Vernacular names include: Ficus altissima is a "strangler fig", often starting life as an epiphyte, on trees such as Lagerstroemia (as illustrated above) or palms, sending down roots to the ground which in time grow stout enough to support the growing tree independently.

It is sometimes planted as a shade tree but has a wide root system and is unsuitably large for most urban areas.

), that have become established in the area, seem capable of pollinating it and the tree is now proliferating and becoming invasive.