Ficus pleurocarpa was described by German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1874 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.

[4] On the basis of morphology, English botanist E. J. H. Corner divided the genus into four subgenera[1] which were later expanded to six.

[5] In this classification, F. pleurocarpa was placed in subseries Hesperidiiformes, series Malvanthereae, section Malvanthera of the subgenus Urostigma.

[6] Based on DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal internal and external transcribed spacers, Nina Rønsted and colleagues rejected previous subdivisions of the Malvanthera.

[10] Ficus pleurocarpa was the most largest contributor of fruit biomass in the forest canopy during periods of fruit scarcity, and was ranked as the species that made the second most important contribution to the frugivore community, although the authors of the study were unwilling to call it a keystone species.

However, most F. pleurocarpa figs are available in the canopy—only a small proportion of the fruit crop falls to the forest floor.

[12] In a study of fungal succession, 104 species were observed over the course of a three-month incubation of F. pleurocarpa leaves.

[14] The figs are edible fresh or dried and are described as "tasty at the fully ripe red stage".