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Wall of green

For residents of flats and houses without compounds, wall ivy provides that much-yearned-for touch of green

ORNAMENTAL PLANT Ficus pumila

Ficus pumila, commonly known as Wall Ivy, is different from the European one. It is a climbing shrub, found growing in moist humid valleys in the rain forest, over the barks of tree trunks and rocks, along with mosses and ferns.

The British grew it as an ornamental plant on the walls of their bungalows in the hill stations. The plant has wonderfully adapted itself in cities that are at sea level (visit Manickam Avenue at Alwarpet).

Ascending vertically up smooth walls in temperatures of 35 degree Celsius plus is a proof of its capacity to co-exist with man.

Climbs along crevices

The plant takes root in the soil near walls and flourishes if adequately watered.

It climbs up along crevices by producing an enormous amount of minute adventitious aerial roots, which systematically spread and establish, gaining a strong foot-hold in invisible holes.

Then the dimorphous leaves grow, enveloping the wall with a soothing splash of greenery that belongs only to evergreen forests. The large fruits stand out.

The fig genus contains the largest number of species. Sir George King's monograph on Ficus (1851) enumerates 112 species, including the well-known giants of the vegetable kingdom Banyan and Pipal.

While the Banyan which covers the ground by rooting, droops downward, Pipal towers in the sky with its conical-global crown of heart-shaped leaves.

The small-stemmed tender looking wall ivy is also a species of the fig family.

Periodic spraying of water to wash off dust and gasoline smoke brings out the natural sheen of the leaves. For people living in flats and houses with no facility to raise a grass patch or a flower bed and yet desiring greenery, wall ivy is the answer.

J. MANGALARAJ JOHNSON

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