Ficus pumila, commonly known as the creeping fig or climbing fig, is a species of flowering plant in the Moraceae, native to East Asia (southern China, southern Japan, Vietnam)[ Flora of China, Ficus pumila Linnaeus, 1753. 薜荔 bi li ] and naturalised in parts of the southeastern and south-central United States.[ Flora of North America, Ficus pumila Linnaeus, 1753. Climbing fig ][ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map] It is also found in cultivation as a houseplant. The Latin specific epithet pumila means "dwarf",
Description
Ficus pumila is a woody
evergreen liana, growing to tall.
[ Ficus Species, Climbing Fig, Creeping Ficus, Creeping Fig by Dave's Garden] The juvenile foliage is much smaller and thinner than mature leaves produced as the plant ages. The leaves are oval, cordate, asymmetrical, with opposite veins. It is creeping or can behave like a
liana and also climb trees, rocks, etc. up to 4 m in height or more. The
secrete a translucent
latex that hardens on drying, allowing the stems to adhere to their support.
It is pollinated by the fig wasp Wiebesia pumilae (syn. Blastophaga pumilae), and is fed upon by of the butterfly Marpesia petreus.
Cultivation
As the common name, "creeping fig" indicates, the plant has a creeping/vining habit and is often used in gardens and landscapes where it covers the ground and climbs up trees and walls. It is hardy down to
and does not tolerate frost. Therefore in
temperateness regions it is often seen as a
houseplant. It is fast-growing and requires little in the way of care. It can be invasive when environmental conditions are favorable. Its secondary roots or
tendrils can cause structural damage to certain buildings with fragile mortar or structures made of fragile materials.
It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Varieties and cultivars
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Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang — awkeotsang creeping fig
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Ficus pumila var. quercifolia — oak leaf creeping fig
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Ficus pumila 'Curly' — curly creeping fig; crinkled leaf form
-
Ficus pumila 'Variegata' and Ficus pumila 'Snowflake' — variegated creeping fig; variegated foliage
Cuisine
The fruit of
Ficus pumila var.
awkeotsang is used in cuisine. In
Taiwan, its fruit is turned inside out and dried. The seeds are scraped off and a gel is extracted from their surface with water and allowed to set and form a jelly known in Taiwan as
aiyu jelly (or
aiyuzi 愛玉子) and in
Singapore as
ice jelly (文頭雪).
Toxicity
Like other plant species in the family
Moraceae, contact with the milky sap of
Ficus pumila can cause phytophotodermatitis,
a potentially serious skin inflammation. Although the plant is not poisonous per se,
F. pumila is listed in the FDA Database of Poisonous Plants.
Gallery
File:Warren Wilson Beach House (The Venice Beach House), Venice, California.JPG|Growing on Warren Wilson Beach House in Venice, California
File:Ficus pumila = ficus repens.JPG|Habit on a wall
File:Ficus pumila.jpg|Vigorous growth on a wall
File:Ficus pumila, lenteloof, b, Pretoria.jpg|Close-up of the leaves and brown
File:Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften - Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe (1858) (20665373299), Ficus pumila.jpg|Nature printing leaves, showing shape and venation
File:Ficus pumila fruits (RaeA).jpg|Syconium (figs)
File:F pumila.jpg|Inverted and dried fig of F. p. var. awkeotsang, ready for use
File:Feuilles de Ficus pumila.jpg|Leaves from oldest to youngest
File:Ficus pumila variegata 0zz.jpg|Variegated leaves
File:Ficus Pumila Half Syconia.jpg|Half cut of Ficus Pumila Syconia
