Chipkali Bel / Climbing Fig
Ficus pumila
Also known as Creeping Fig
- Habit
- Climbing shrub
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Chipkali Bel
Identify Chipkali Bel by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a climbing shrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Clings flat to walls (climbing fig).
- Confirm leaf arrangement: Opposite.
- Confirm leaf shape: Cordate.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Moraceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Chipkali Bel.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Ficus pumila
- Genus
- Ficus
- Family
- Moraceae
- Habit
- Climbing shrub
- Habitat
- Introduced as garden plant, also running wild
- Habitat type
- Cultivated
- Native to
- East Asia
- Distribution
- Cultivated in tropics
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Delhi, Odisha, Sikkim
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf arrangement
- OppositerecordedTwo leaves arise from the stem at the same point, facing each other.“The leaves are oval, cordate, asymmetrical, with opposite veins.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf shape
- CordaterecordedHeart-shaped, with a notch at the base.“The leaves are oval, cordate, asymmetrical, with opposite veins.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
Characters marked “recorded” are for Chipkali Bel itself; the rest are typical of the Moraceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Catkin
- Fruit
- Drupe
Typical of the Moraceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- छिपकली बेल chipkali bel
- Bengali
- লতা বট lata bata, লতা বট
- Tamil
- கொடி அத்தி koti atti, ஊர்ந்து செல்லும் அத்தி urntu cellum atti, தவழும் அத்தி tavalum atti
- Malayalam
- മതിൽപ്പറ്റി mathilppati, മതിൽപറ്റി, Ficus pumila
- Marathi
- वाघनखी vaghnakhi
About Chipkali Bel
Climbing Fig (Ficus pumila) belongs to the Moraceae family, where it grows as a climbing shrub. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and 18 other states. It is introduced as garden plant, also running wild. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
It is planted as an ornamental. Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
Moraceae
Fig/Mulberry family
Chipkali Bel belongs to the Moraceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Moraceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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