Photo: Ixitixel, CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Creeping Fig

Ficus pumila

Also known as Bi Li, Climbing Fig, Aiyu Fig, Ivy Fig

At a glance

Family

Moraceae (fig and mulberry family)

Type

Woody evergreen climbing vine

Parts used

Ripe fruit and seeds (fresh or dried); vine traditionally in Chinese herbalism

Size

Climbs 20 to 50 feet on walls and trees, with small heart-shaped juvenile leaves that give way to larger, leathery leaves once the vine matures and begins to fruit

Bloom

Flowers are hidden entirely inside the fig itself, invisible to the eye; the fruit that follows ripens slowly over many months

Habitat

Native to East Asia, from China south through Vietnam, where it scrambles up stone walls, tree trunks, and shaded courtyard walls

Acquisition

Grow or buy

Traditional remedies in HerbSense

Key benefits

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Traditionally cooling and soothing

Supports gentle digestion

Historic support for nursing mothers

Used to ease joint stiffness

Traditional uses

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In traditional Chinese medicine, creeping fig is known as bi li, and the fruiting vine has long been valued as a cooling, soothing plant, taken to ease joint aches and settle the digestion. In the mountain villages of Taiwan, the ripe fruit gave rise to a beloved folk tradition of its own: washing the tiny seeds by hand in water until they release a natural pectin that sets into a delicate, jade-clear jelly. Nursing mothers in parts of southern China traditionally turned to preparations of the fruit to help support their milk supply, a practice passed down through generations of home herbalists long before it was ever written into any formal text.

How to grow & use it

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The full apothecary for Creeping Fig

Traditional remedies and step-by-step preparations, a complete growing guide, and how to harvest, dry, and store it, all unlocked with HerbLens Unlimited.

✦Remedies & preparations
✦ Growing guide
✦Harvest & storage

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Pairs well with

✦Lemon
✦Honey
✦Mint

Substitutes

✦Basil seeds (for a similar jelly texture)
✦Chia seeds

Choose it when

“For a cool, jade-clear treat that has soothed hot afternoons for generations.”

Did you know?

Aiyu jelly is said to take its name from a young girl named Ai-Yu, whose father discovered a mountain stream in Taiwan running strangely thick after fig seeds had washed into it and set into a natural jelly; she is remembered as the first to sell bowls of the cooling treat on the streets below.

Safety

Creeping fig's milky latex can irritate skin and cause a rash if exposed to sun afterward. Only the mature fruit's seed gel is eaten, not the leaves or unripe fruit, and pregnant or nursing individuals should use caution since it has traditionally been linked to milk flow.