Ficus punctata
24th October 2015
A small creeping species I had never seen before, being offered as a house plant. I thought it was worth a try
under the bench in the propagating house where there is some warmth if the sun shines.
The species has a wide range in East Asia including Thailand and much of Indonesia which isn't a particularly optimistic start.
Tender plants are often produced through the summer and sold off in autumn for the Christmas market, before
greenhouses need too much heat and I think that is how this one appeared for sale.
Experience demonstrated fairly decisively that it isn't hardy enough to survive in a cold greenhouse here. Ficus
is a genus of hundreds of species. Very few of them are hardy but it is always worth a try when an oddity turns up.