FICUS PUMILA

Ficus pumila (creeping fig or climbing fig) is a species of flowering plant in the Moraceae (mulberry) family, native to East Asia (China, Japan, Vietnam) and naturalised in parts of the southeastern and south-central United States. Ficus pumila is a woody evergreen vine, growing to 2.5–4 m. The juvenile foliage is much smaller and thinner than mature leaves produced as the plant ages. This plant requires the fig wasp Blastophaga pumilae for pollination, and is fed upon by larvae of the butterfly Marpesia petreus.

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 not frost-hardy, and in temperate regions is often seen as a houseplant. It is fast-growing and requires little in the way of care. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It can become invasive and cover structures and landscape features if not maintained and its growth contained. When climbing buildings or wooden structures, the woody tendrils can cling or root in, and damage structures and/or their surface finishes.

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.