Beginning as a seedling that grows on other plants (hemiepiphyte) or rocks (lithophyte), F. rubiginosa matures into a tree 30 m (100 ft) high and nearly as wide with a yellow-brown buttressed trunk.

The fruits are small, round, and yellow, and can ripen and turn red at any time of year, peaking in spring and summer.

Like all figs, the fruit is in the form of a syconium, an inverted inflorescence with the flowers lining an internal cavity.

F. rubiginosa is exclusively pollinated by the fig wasp species Pleistodontes imperialis, which may comprise four cryptospecies.

Ranging along the Australian east coast from Queensland to Bega in southern New South Wales (including the Port Jackson area, leading to its alternative name), F. rubiginosa grows in rainforest margins and rocky outcrops.

It is used as a shade tree in parks and public spaces, and when potted is well-suited for use as an indoor plant or in bonsai.

Ficus rubiginosa was described by French botanist René Louiche Desfontaines in 1804,[3] from a type specimen whose locality is documented simply as "New Holland".

[8] In 1862, Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel described Urostigma leichhardtii from material collected from Cape Cleveland, Queensland, noting it had affinities to F.

Miquel also described Ficus leichhardtii variety angustata from Whitsunday Island,[10] later classified as F. shirleyana by Czech botanist Karel Domin.

[4] In a study published in 2008, Nina Rønsted and colleagues analysed the DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal internal and external transcribed spacers, and the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase region, in the first molecular analysis of the section Malvanthera.

As Bailey's description more closely matched Dixon's findings (that these variants were only partly and not completely hairless), Dixon retained Bailey's name and reclassified it as Ficus rubiginosa forma glabrescens in 2001 as it differed only in the lack of hairs on new growth from the nominate form.

[16] F. rubiginosa is monoecious—both male and female flowers are found on the same plant, and in fact in the same fruit, although they mature at different times.

[16] The range extends westwards to Porcupine Gorge National Park in Queensland and the far western plains in New South Wales.

In the Sydney region, F. rubiginosa grows from sea level to 1000 m (3500 ft) altitude, in areas with an average yearly rainfall of 600–1,400 mm (24–55 in).

[19] F. rubiginosa is largely sympatric with F. obliqua, though its range extends further west into dryer regions than the latter species.

[4] Outside its native range, F. rubiginosa has naturalised to some degree in urban Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, as well as New Zealand, Hawaii and California, and Mediterranean Europe.

[22] The fruit is consumed by many bird species including the rose-crowned fruit dove (Ptilinopus regina), wompoo fruit dove (P. magnificus), wonga pigeon (Leucosarcia melanoleuca), topknot pigeon (Lopholaimus antarcticus), Pacific koel (Eudynamys orientalis),[5] Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus),[23] Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis),[24] Australasian figbird (Sphecotheres vieilloti), green catbird (Ailuroedus crassirostris), regent bowerbird (Sericulus chrysocephalus), satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) and pied currawong (Strepera graculina),[5] as well as the mammalian grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus),[19] and spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus).

[19] The thrips species Gynaikothrips australis feeds on the underside of new leaves of F. rubiginosa, as well as F. obliqua and F. macrophylla.

[17] Investigation of F. rubiginosa syconia found that the fig seeds and parasitic wasps develop closer to the wall of the syconium.

[34] It is commonly used as a large ornamental tree in eastern Australia, in the North Island of New Zealand,[28] and also in Hawaii and California, where it is also listed as an invasive species in some areas.

[36] Not as prodigious as other figs, F. rubiginosa is suited to slightly more confined areas, such as lining car parks or suburban streets.

[34] In a brief description, William Guilfoyle recorded a variegated fig from New South Wales "12–15 ft high" in 1911 as F. rubiginosa variety variegata.

[43] F. rubiginosa is also suited for use as a houseplant in low, medium or brightly lit spaces, although a variegated form requires brighter light.