Ficus Pumila
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''Ficus pumila'', commonly known as the creeping fig or climbing fig, is a
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
in the mulberry family, native to
East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
(China, Japan, Vietnam) and naturalized in parts of the southeastern and south-central United States. It is also found in cultivation as a
houseplant A houseplant, also known as a pot plant, potted plant, or indoor plant, is an ornamental plant cultivated indoors. for aesthetic or practical purposes. These plants are commonly found in House, homes, Office, offices, and various indoor spaces, w ...
. The Latin
specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''pumila'' means "dwarf", and refers to the very small leaves of the plant.


Description

''Ficus pumila'' is a woody
evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...
, growing to . It can grow up to tall if it isn't regularly pruned. 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 A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...
and also climb trees, rocks, etc. up to 4 m in height or more. The
aerial root Aerial roots are Root, roots growing above the ground. They are often Plant development#Adventitious structures, adventitious, i.e. formed from nonroot tissue. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids ('' ...
s secrete a translucent
latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...
that hardens on drying, allowing the sticks to adhere to their support.


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
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
regions it is often seen as a
houseplant A houseplant, also known as a pot plant, potted plant, or indoor plant, is an ornamental plant cultivated indoors. for aesthetic or practical purposes. These plants are commonly found in House, homes, Office, offices, and various indoor spaces, w ...
. 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 In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a thread-like shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tendr ...
can cause structural damage to certain buildings with fragile mortar or structures made of fragile materials. It has gained the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's
Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...
. The plant requires the
fig wasp Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside fig syconia. Some are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, ...
''Blastophaga pumilae'' for pollination, and is fed upon by
larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
e of the butterfly '' Marpesia petreus''.


Varieties and cultivars

* ''Ficus pumila'' var. ''awkeotsang'' — awkeotsang creeping fig *''Ficus pumila'' var. ''quercifolia'' — oak leaf creeping fig *''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 Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, 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 Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
as ''ice jelly'' (文頭雪).


Toxicity

Like other plant species in the family
Moraceae Moraceae is a family of flowering plants comprising about 48 genera and over 1100 species, and is commonly known as the mulberry or fig family. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however, their ...
, contact with the milky sap of ''Ficus pumila'' can cause
phytophotodermatitis Phytophotodermatitis, also known as berloque dermatitis,, margarita photodermatitis,, lime disease or lime phytodermatitis is a cutaneous phototoxic inflammatory reaction resulting from contact with a light-sensitizing botanical agent (such as ...
, 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 Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, CA 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
stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...
s File:Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften - Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe (1858) (20665373299), Ficus pumila.jpg, Nature printed leaves, showing shape and venation File:Ficus pumila fruits (RaeA).jpg, Syconia (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


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2360517 pumila Flora of Eastern Asia Flora of China Flora of Vietnam Edible fruits Garden plants of Asia Vines House plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus