Scientific
Name : Ficus pumila
Synonyms
: Ficus
hanceana, F. longipedicellata, F. pumila var. lutchuensis, F. repens var.
lutchuensis, F. scandens. F. stipulate, F. stipulate, F. vestita, Plagiostigma
pumila, P. stipulate, Tenorea heterophylla. Urostigma scandens, Varinga repens.
Common
names : Climbing fig, creeping fig, 薜荔
Varieties
& Cultivars
Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang 愛玉子
Ficus pumila var quercifolia
Ficus pumila ‘Curly’
Ficus pumila ‘Variegated’
Ficus pumila ‘Snowflake’
Habitat
F. pumila is native to the Old World
tropics but is now cultivated and in some cases invasive to introduced places.
Risk
Reported
to be invasive in Cuba , Hawaii, New
Zealand, Florida
Potential
poisonous to mammals.
Description
The
juvenile phase of this plant is morphologically different from the adult phase.
Juvenile plant attaining several metres in length, much branched, climbing by
means of adventitious roots; stems flattened; leaves 1.5-2.5 cm long, ovate to
oblong, retuse at the apex, very closely spaced.
Adult
plant developing into a much branched liana, with adventitious roots, attaining
10 m in length; produces abundant white latex when wounded. Stems flattened,
striate, tomentose, glabrescent when mature, with short pendulous branches.
Leaves alternate, simple, 4-7 × 2.2-4 cm, oblong, oblanceolate, ovate, or
elliptical, the apex obtuse, the base subcordiform, the margins entire; upper
surface dark green, slightly shiny, with the venation notably lighter; lower
surface light green, dull, with prominent reticulate venation; petioles 1.3-1.6
cm long, flattened on the upper surface, pubescent, light brown; stipules
oblong-lanceolate to subulate, persistent, 1-1.2 cm long, brown, sericeous.
Syconium green, pyriform, up to 6 cm long, soft.
F. pumila has a symbiotic relationship
with Blastophaga pumilae , an agaonid
wasp for pollination, and is fed upon by larvae of the butterfly Marpesia petreus.
Uses
Landscape
: Green walls, topiari
Ethnobotanical
: Traditional Chinese herb
