This is a deciduous tree, developing a vast crown of many equally large spreading limbs ending in numerous slender twigs.

The tree undergoes a remarkable rhythm in its leaf change. When the tree is about to change its leaves, it sheds the old ones rapidly, remains bare for a few days and then develops the new leaves over most of the crown simultaneously so that the renewal is completed within a fortnight from the opening of the buds. At such times, the ground below the tree is littered with the pale-green bud-scales (stipules) and fallen leaves. A similar habit seems to occur in the related species Ficus superba and Ficus virens.

In Greek, ‘kaulos’ refers to stem and ‘karpos’ refers to fruit, hence the name ‘caulocarpa’.

This species can be found from India to the Solomon Islands and it is common in Singapore. As with many other Ficus species, the figs are a reliable source of food for the forest animals such as the fruit eating birds.