Ficus pumila L.
climbing fig
Evergreen, monoecious, scandent shrub becoming ± erect at flowering. Young stems moderately to densely hairy, becoming glabrous. Lvs glabrous above, finely hairy below when young but becoming ± glabrous, not lobed, entire, ovate to elliptic, cordate and often asymmetric at base, obtuse to acute, 1.5-3-(4) cm long on young scandent shoots, up to 12 cm long on the more erect flowering shoots; veins very prominently raised below; petiole < blade; stipules 2 per node, densely hairy, triangular, caducous. Infl. hairy, pyriform to subglobose, green, shortly pedunculate. Syncarp purplish pink, 2-8 cm long; achenes not seen.
N.: collected in Auckland City only.
Japan, China 1981
Waste places.
F. pumila is cultivated in N.Z. as an ornamental climber and sometimes runs wild, but is not yet well-established as a naturalised plant. Wild plants are established by vegetative spread from cultivated plants or are persistent discards. The specialised fig wasp required for seed set in F. pumila is not present in N.Z.
