Ficus pumila

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