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| Category: Shrub |
| Family: Moraceae (Mulberrys) |
| Origin: Formosa (Asia) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: NA |
| Bloomtime: Spring |
| Height: <1 foot |
| Width: Spreading |
| Exposure: Cool Sun/Light Shade |
| Seaside: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F |
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Ficus vaccinioides (Formosan Creeping Fig) A low growing evergreen groundcover shrub with dark reddish brown delicate stems that lays flat to the ground or mounds slightly, rooting at the internodes in soil or climbing up along a low wall or fence with a dense cover of small obovate deep green glossy leaves. Plant in full coastal sun to light shade in a relatively well drained soil with regular to occasional irrigation. Hardy to at least 25F as is went through 3 nights down to this temperature in 2007 in our test garden and reportedly grown in a protected location at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, North Carolina in USDA Zone 7, where it goes deciduous. A nice container plant, trimmed for topiary work or allowed to run as a low groundcover in part sun or light shade but will grow in full sun along the coast. Much better behave than the more common Creeping Fig, Ficus pumila. We have never seen this plant set fruit in many years we have had our stock plant but they are described in the Flora of China and elsewhere as axillary on normal leafy shoots, solitary or paired, purplish black in late spring early summer. This plant comes from slopes of shoreline thickets and exposed sea shore rocks in Southern Taiwan. The specific epithet is a reference to the genus of the blueberry, Vaccinium so means "blueberry-like" because of the small dark fruit and for this reason another common name is Blueberry Fig. Our thanks to the grassman John Greenlee for sharing this jewel of a plant with us.
This information about Ficus vaccinioides displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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