RE: Climb the Walls with Ficus pumila
Ficus pumila
(creeping fig)
Description
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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 (Acevedo-Rodriguez, 2005).
The species will form woody stems after several years of growth.
Distribution
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F. pumila is native to temperate and tropical Asia. It is a commonly cultivated species across Puerto Rico and is found in the El Yunque and Maricao public forests (Acevedo-Rodriguez, 2005). It is also widely cultivated in the Philippines and Melanesia (Madulid, 1995), as well as in Nepal and Indo-China (Nepal Checklist, 2014). In the USA, the species can be cultivated in parts of the southern and western coasts (Gilman, 1999).
