Its native range is from India to China and Japan, through Southeast Asia and the western Pacific to the state of Queensland in Australia, and it has been introduced to parts of the Americas and the Mediterranean.

They are glabrous (without hairs) and have 5–9 pairs of main lateral veins either side of the midrib, which form distinct loops within the leaf margin.

[12] Ficus microcarpa is native to tropical Asia, southern China, Taiwan, islands of the Western Pacific and Australia.

The species occurs mainly at low elevations, and its natural habitats include tropical rainforests, river edges, coasts, swamps and mangroves.

[citation needed] Ficus microcarpa was widely distributed as an ornamental plant and is one of the most common street trees in warm climates.

[citation needed] It has been introduced to a number of countries in the Mediterranean, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Hawaii, California and Florida in the US.

It seems that the species can tolerate urban pollutants in soil moisture, including sulfur dioxide, lead and cadmium, as well as salt.

Such an introduction, however, can be delayed: in Brazil - where specimens of the tree had been used in gardening since the nineteenth century, when it was introduced by the architect Auguste François Marie Glaziou into various public parks of Rio de Janeiro - the appearance of saplings began only during the 1970s.

In Southern California, a population of the symbiotic fig wasp is now established, which allows the ornamental trees to produce fertile fruit.

[clarification needed] As a tropical and subtropical tree, it is suitable for temperatures above 20 °C all year long, which explains why it is generally sold as a houseplant.

The pharmacological properties of Ficus microcarpa would include antioxidant activities, antibacterial, anticarcinogen and anti diabetic agents.