Ficus heterophylla
A scrambling, often creeping fig of stream and river banks from India and Sri Lanka through southern China and Indochina to Borneo and Java. Its leaves vary a great deal in shape on one plant, which is where the name comes from. Collectors' notes describe it almost always on open, sandy, flood-scoured banks in seasonal forest, so it wants bright light, warmth and plenty of water.
Where it grows wild
Specimen labels repeatedly place it by water: open sandy alluvial banks, thickets on disturbed river banks below the high-flood line, and damp forest edges 'only at the waterside or on swampy ground'. The surrounding forest is usually seasonal deciduous hardwood with bamboo, sometimes more evergreen forest on limestone. Stems sprawl, scramble and root along the ground or over rocks and shrubs.
Mostly lowland: GBIF specimen elevations run from about 10 to 1700 m, with a median near 360 m. Most dated riverbank collections are between about 200 and 400 m.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.