Ficus Mystique, a stunning white plant

Hi Everyone!

I’m having trouble figuring out how to start a new post but wanted to share a photo of something, sorry if this is the wrong place.

I visited one of my favorite plant nurseries yesterday, they were holding me a rooted stem off their ficus tree. They said it’s a Ficus Mystique, it’s absolutely stunning, the leaves are almost all white. I couldn’t find it on the DG site, I did find another one called ficus Benjamin Starlight, but it doesn’t have as much white on it. I didn’t bring home the small rooted stem, they had several of them, the take cuttings from the mother plant, root them & sell them every year. Unfortunately, they were all infested with scale, so they are going to treat them first.

I also searched on the internet for information on the Mystique Ficus but was unable to find much, if anyone’s familiar with this plant and could share some information on it, that would be helpful.

I had read somewhere on the internet that ficus leaves are usually always green & when they’re are variegations in color like white, it’s because they had some type of virus before. Does anyone know anything about this?
Thanks All
Forest

Here’s a closeup screenshot of the leaves.

I just love variegated plants especially when the variegation is white. That tree is just beautiful.

I suspect yours is a Ficus benjamina 'Starlight' but just 1 with more pronounced white. The amount of variegation probably varies a lot from plant to plant. If someone gets a highly variegated 1 that they want to reproduce, they would take cuttings and hope the cuttings do not revert to green and that the variegation will be stable. I know sometimes, if you get 1 that has a highly sought after characteristics, a nursery may give it its own name like Starlight or Mystique.

I doubt Starlight produces viable seed if it produces seed at all. And even if it did, I doubt the seed comes true to the mother plant.

I also doubt Starlight's variegation is from a virus but is a chimeral variegation which is a genetic mutation and the most common kind of variegation.

You can get too much variegation which makes the plant weak as it needs some green (chlorophyll) for photosynthesis. Too much white and the white leaf, branch or the whole tree will die.

Once you get your plant and if it puts out a green shoot, be sure to cut it off to the last variegated leaf for it will be a stronger grower and can completely take over your plant. Make sure you give yours enough sun to keep and encourage the variegation but not too much which will burn the delicate white areas.

I am no expert but this is a simplistic version of what I have picked up over the years. I could be totally wrong. LOL

This is a Starlight with a lot of variegation.
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/147045/

ZilyZily, thanks for all the information and insight, I think you’re probably right. I did ask them if it was a starlight Benjamin and that’s when they said it was a Mystique, I’m gonna have to ask the nursery if they can tell me more about the tree. I sure hope they didn’t just make up a new name for a variation of something, if a lot of places did that it would cause a lot more confusion when trying to identify plants. Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.
Forest