![]() It is a relationship so complex, it can be difficult for us to understand who initiated it, and who is getting the better of the bargain. Fig plants need fig waspsįig plants have remarkable relationships with fig wasps. Only one small but significant visitor has successfully undertaken such a task: the fig wasp.Īt the size of a mosquito, this tiny invertebrate gives its life in service to pollinating the fig, and in return, each fig provides a safe and accommodating nursery to hatch and raise young.ĭid you know that drones can be used to pollinate some agricultural crops? Read about pollination here. But, as you can imagine, pollinating the fig’s internal flowers is nothing short of mission impossible. 1 How are figs pollinatedīecause figs are technically the flowers of a fig plant and not fruit, in order for the plant to reproduce, these flowers need to be pollinated. Cut open a fig, and the psychedelic maze you see within are individual flowers, and the crunchy bits, the seeds of each flower. That's right – what most of us would have smugly placed in the ‘fruit’ divide is actually not a fruit at all, but an inflorescence, a core of hundreds of tiny, delicate flowers, clustered within a bulbous stem. But while this botanical treachery has been exposed in some cases, others have managed to slip under the radar: Right under our noses, the fig has been masquerading as a fruit. Granted that most of us are now well aware that tomatoes and avocados are technically fruits and not vegetables, while an aubergine, interestingly, is actually a kind of berry – and the same goes for bananas. Our local supermarkets are a categorical minefield. What are figs? Figs are flowers, not fruits So what exactly are figs, how are figs pollinated, what is a fig wasp, and why are they so special? But a quick look into the lives of figs reveals an entirely different picture: a remarkable and complex partnership between figs and wasps - plant and pollinator. : The fibrous bark was previously used to make felt, that is in turn used to make loincloth.If you’re like me, you’ve probably given little thought to figs – aside from how delicious they are. The latex from the bark are reportedly used as a poultice on wounds. ) Latin Ficus, the commercial edible fig (Ficus carica) Latin variegata, irregularly coloured, referring to the ripening figs that are green with rose-red streaks Its flowers are pollinated by the fig wasp (Ceratosolen appendiculatus), and its ripe syconia are eaten by birds. It occurs locally in Fort Canning Park and Pulau Ubin. It grows in villages, along the edges or in open areas in lowland forests up to 1,200 m altitude. It has been observed that only trees that are taller than 5–7.6 m bear figs. Its long-stalked syconia (figs) are pear-shaped, green with rose-red streaks when ripe, up to 5 cm wide, and develop in dense clusters on short twigs, up to 7.6 cm long, arising from the trunk and main branches. ![]() The flowers are tiny and develop within the syconium (fig). The plant is dioecious with each plant bearing male or female flowers. Its young leaves have larger, toothed leaf blades. Its spirally arranged, long-stalked leaves have leathery leaf blades that are egg-shaped to oval to oblong with pointed tips, and 6–35 by 2–15 cm. The plant is easy to identify when it bears syconia (figs). It has conspicuous and spreading buttresses developing from its trunk. It is a medium-sized tree up to 40 m tall, with a conical crown.
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