Una de las características de las especies de este género, y de la familia es la secreción lechosa llamada látex que segregan al cortar o herir cualquier parte de la planta.
La especie Ficus carica, la higuera común, pertenece a este género. Produce un fruto muy comercializado, el higo o breva. Otra característica importante de esta especie es la propiedad colorante de sus hojas. Los frutos de otras muchas especies también son comestibles, aunque no se consumen extensamente. Estos falsos frutos derivan de una flor especialmente adaptada que se denomina syconium y su parte carnosa no proviene del ovario de la flor, sino del tejido adyacente. Poseen forma bulbosa con una pequeña abertura, el ostiolum, al final y una zona hueca en el interior recubierta por pequeñas semillas rojas comestibles. Este fruto/flor es polinizado por pequeñas avispas que avanzan por la abertura para fertilizarlo.
Los higos presentan dos sexos, los hermafroditas y los femeninos. Las avispas de los higos, de la familia Agaonidae, habitan en los hermafroditas; cuando éstos maduran se aparean y las hembras salen a la búsqueda de frutos inmaduros. Penetran por el ostiolo y ponen sus huevos en los ovarios de las pequeñas flores en el interior del higo. También reparten el polen que habían recogido antes de salir del higo donde nacieron, polinizando así las flores femeninas. Después mueren en el interior del higo. Las crías se alimentan de las semillas y completan su desarrollo dentro de ellas. Los machos emergen primero, se aparean con las hembras y mueren en su interior o consiguen salir pero no pueden volar porque carecen de alas. Las hembras recogen polen de las flores masculinas que están maduras en ese momento y salen en busca de otro higo. Diferentes especies de Ficus presentan variantes de este sistema de polinización, incluso hay algunos que no requieren polinización.
Las especies tropicales fructifican continuamente, permitiendo a los animales frugívoros sobrevivir gracias a la ininterrumpida cosecha. En climas templados, sin embargo, se producen distintas cosechas y las avispas hibernan en los frutos. Los higos hermafroditas dan tres cosechas al año, mientras que los comestibles solamente dos, la primera de las cuales produce frutos más pequeños llamados brevas. Algunas de estas variedades comestibles no requieren polinización, produciendo higos sin semillas fértiles y en ausencia de hermafroditas o avispas.
Existe solamente una especie característica de avispa capaz de fertilizar las flores de cada especie de ficus, por lo que las plantaciones fuera del ámbito nativo dan como resultado ejemplares estériles. En Hawaii, por ejemplo, se introdujeron 60 especies de ficus diferentes, pero sólo 4 especies de avispa, por lo que únicamente cuatro especies de plantas producen semillas viables.
Los Ficus también se reproducen fácilmente por esqueje.
Existen especies tropicales de este género llamadas bibosi que viven en espectaculares simbiosis con algunas especies de palmeras llamadas motacú (Attalea spp.).
Merece una mención el Ficus religiosa que en India es considerado sagrado y también es llamado "árbol de la iluminación".
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This article is about the genus of woody plants. For the genus of sea snails, see Ficus (gastropod). For Monroe Ficus, see Too Close for Comfort (TV series). For the fruit of these trees, see common fig.
"Fig tree" redirects here. For other uses, see Fig Tree (disambiguation).
"Fig trees" redirects here. For the 2009 film, see Fig Trees.
Fig trees
Sycamore Fig, Ficus sycomorus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Tribe: Ficeae[1]
Gaudich.
Genus: Ficus
L.
Species
About 800, see text
Ficus (pronounced /ˈfaɪkəs/)[2] is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The so-called Common Fig (F. carica) is a temperate species from the Middle East and eastern Europe (mostly Ukraine), which has been widely cultivated from ancient times for its fruit, also referred to as figs. The fruit of most other species are also edible though they are usually of only local economic importance or eaten as bushfood. However, they are extremely important food resources for wildlife. Figs are also of paramount cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses.
Contents [hide]
1 Description
2 Ecology and uses
3 Cultural and spiritual significance
4 Fig pollination and fig fruit
5 Selected species
6 Gallery
7 List of famous fig trees
8 See also
9 Footnotes
10 References
11 External links
11.1 Video
[edit] Description
A Ficus caricaFicus is a pan-tropical genus of trees, shrubs and vines occupying a wide variety of ecological niches; most are evergreen, but some deciduous species are endemic to areas outside of the tropics and to higher elevations.[3] Fig species are characterized by their unique inflorescence and distinctive pollination syndrome, which utilizes wasp species belonging to the Agaonidae family for pollination.
The specific identification of many of the species can be difficult, but figs as a group are relatively easy to recognize.[4] Many have aerial roots and a distinctive shape or habit, and their fruits distinguish them from other plants. The fig fruit is an enclosed inflorescence, sometimes referred to as a syconium, an urn-like structure lined on the inside with the fig's tiny flowers. The unique fig pollination system, involving tiny, highly specific wasps, know as fig wasps that enter these closed inflorescences to both pollinate and lay their own eggs, has been a constant source of inspiration and wonder to biologists.[5] Finally, there are three vegetative traits that together are unique to figs. All figs possess a white to yellowish sap (latex), some in copious quantities; the twig has paired stipules or a circular stipule scar if the stipules have fallen off; and the lateral veins at the base of the leaf are steep, forming a tighter angle with the midrib than the other lateral veins, a feature referred to as a "tri-veined".
Unfortunately, there are no unambiguous older fossils of Ficus. However, current molecular clock estimates indicate that Ficus is a relatively ancient genus being at least 60 million years old,[5] and possibly as old as 80 million years. The main radiation of extant species, however, may have taken place more recently, between 20 and 40 million years ago.
Some better known species that represent the diversity of the genus include the Common Fig which is a small temperate deciduous tree whose fingered fig leaf is well-known in art and iconography; the Weeping Fig (F. benjamina) a hemi-epiphyte with thin tough leaves on pendulous stalks adapted to its rain forest habitat; the rough-leaved sandpaper figs from Australia; the Creeping Fig (F. pumila), a vine whose small, hard leaves form a dense carpet of foliage over rocks or garden walls. Moreover, figs with different plant habits have undergone adaptive radiation in different biogeographic regions, leading to very high levels of alpha diversity. In the tropics, it is quite common to find that Ficus is the most species-rich plant genus in a particular forest. In Asia as many as 70 or more species can co-exist.[6]
[edit] Ecology and uses
Coppersmith Barbet feeding on White Fig (Ficus virens) fruitFigs are keystone species in many rainforest ecosystems. Their fruit are a key resource for some frugivores including fruit bats, capuchin monkeys, langurs and mangabeys. They are even more important for some birds. Asian barbets, pigeons, hornbills, fig-parrots and bulbuls are examples of taxa that may almost entirely subsist on figs when these are in plenty. Many Lepidoptera caterpillars feed on fig leaves, for example several Euploea species (Crow butterflies), the Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus), the Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes), the Brown Awl (Badamia exclamationis), and Chrysodeixis eriosoma, Choreutidae and Copromorphidae moths. The Citrus long-horned beetle (Anoplophora chinensis), for example, has larvae that feed on wood, including that of fig trees; it can become a pest in fig plantations. Similarly, the Sweet Potato Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) is frequently found as a pest on figs grown as potted plants and is spread through the export of these plants to other localities. For a list of other diseases common to fig trees, see List of foliage plant diseases (Moraceae).
Leaves of the Sacred Fig (F. religiosa)The wood of fig trees is often soft and the latex precludes its use for many purposes. It was used to make mummy caskets in Ancient Egypt. Certain fig species (mainly F. cotinifolia, F. insipida and F. padifolia) are traditionally used in Mesoamerica to produce papel amate (Nahuatl: āmatl). Mutuba (F. natalensis) is used to produce barkcloth in Uganda. Pou (F. religiosa) leaves' shape inspired one of the standard kbach rachana, decorative elements in Cambodian architecture. Weeping Fig (F. benjamina) and Indian Rubber Plant (F. elastica) are identified as powerful air-cleaning plants in the NASA Clean Air Study. Indian Banyan (F. bengalensis) and the Indian Rubber Plant, as well as other species, have use in herbalism. The latter is known to be a hyperaccumulator of benzene and methane,[dubious – discuss] and urban or potted plants should be considered toxic for that reason.
A page from the Mexican Huexotzinco Codex, painted on āmatlFigs have figured prominently in some human cultures. There is evidence that figs, specifically the Common Fig (F. carica) and Sycamore Fig (F. sycomorus), were among the first — if not the very first — plant species that were deliberately bred for agriculture in the Middle East, starting more than 11,000 years ago. Nine subfossil F. carica figs dated to about 9400–9200 BC were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I (in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho). These were a parthenocarpic type and thus apparently an early cultivar. This find predates the cultivation of grain in the Middle East by many hundreds of years.[7]
[edit] Cultural and spiritual significance
Fig trees have profoundly influenced culture through several religious traditions. Among the more famous species are the Sacred Fig tree (Peepul, Bodhi, Bo, or Po, Ficus religiosa) and the Banyan Fig (Ficus benghalensis). The oldest living plant of known planting date is a Ficus religiosa tree known as the Sri Maha Bodhi planted in the temple at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka by King Tissa in 288 BC. It is one of the two sacred trees of Islam, and there is a sura in Quran named "The Fig" or At-Tin (سوره تین), and in East Asia, figs are pivotal in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Siddhārtha Gautama, the Supreme Buddha, is traditionally held to have found bodhi (enlightenment) while meditating under a Sacred Fig (F. religiosa). The same species was Ashvastha, the "world tree" of Hinduism. The Plaksa Pra-sravana was said to be a fig tree between the roots of which the Sarasvati River sprang forth; it is usually held to be a Sacred Fig but more probably seems to be a Wavy-leaved Fig (F. infectoria). The Common Fig tree is cited in the Bible, where in Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve cover their nakedness with fig leaves. The fig fruit is also included in the list of food found in the Promised Land, according to the Torah (Deut. 8). Other important plants reported included: wheat, barley, grapes, pomegranates, olives, and dates (representing the honey). Jesus cursed a fig tree for bearing no fruit (Mark 11:12-14). The fig tree was sacred in ancient Cyprus where it was a symbol of fertility.
[edit] Fig pollination and fig fruit
See also: Common Fig
A Common Fig syconium (fruit)Many are grown for their fruits, though only Ficus carica is cultivated to any extent for this purpose. Furthermore, the fig fruits, important as both food and traditional medicine, contain laxative substances, flavonoids, sugars, vitamins A and C, acids and enzymes. However, figs are skin allergens, and the sap is a serious eye irritant. The fig is commonly thought of as fruit, but it is properly the flower of the fig tree. It is in fact a false fruit or multiple fruit, in which the flowers and seeds grow together to form a single mass. The genus Dorstenia, also in the figs family (Moraceae), exhibits similar tiny flowers arranged on a receptacle but in this case the receptacle is a more or less flat, open surface.
Depending on the species, each fruit can contain up to several hundred to several thousand seeds.[8]
Inside of a ripe brown Turkish figFigs, fresh Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 310 kJ (74 kcal)
Carbohydrates 19 g
Sugars 16 g
Dietary fiber 3 g
Fat 0.3 g
Protein 0.8 g
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database
Figs, dried Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 1,041 kJ (249 kcal)
Carbohydrates 64 g
Sugars 48 g
Dietary fiber 10 g
Fat 1 g
Protein 3 g
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database
A fig "fruit" is derived from a specially adapted type of inflorescence (an arrangement of multiple flowers). In this case, it is an involuted, nearly closed receptacle with many small flowers arranged on the inner surface. Thus the actual flowers of the fig are unseen unless the fig is cut open. In Chinese the fig is called wú huā guǒ (simplified Chinese: 无花果; traditional Chinese: 無花果), "fruit without flower"[9]. In Bengali, where the Common Fig is called dumur, it is referenced in a proverb: tumi jeno dumurer phool hoe gele ("You have become [invisible like] the dumur flower").
The syconium often has a bulbous shape with a small opening (the ostiole) at the outward end that allows access to pollinators. The flowers are pollinated by very small wasps that crawl through the opening in search of a suitable place to lay eggs. Without this pollinator service fig trees cannot reproduce by seed. In turn, the flowers provide a safe haven and nourishment for the next generation of wasps. This accounts for the frequent presence of wasp larvae in the fruit, and has led to a coevolutionary relationship. Technically, a fig fruit proper would be one of the many tiny mature, seed-bearing flowers found inside one fig — if you cut open a fresh fig, the flowers will appear as fleshy "threads", each bearing a single seed inside.
Fig plants can be monoecious (hermaphrodite) or gynodioecious (hermaphrodite and female).[10] Nearly half of fig species are gynodioecious, and have plants with inflorescences (syconium) with long styled pistillate flowers, or have plants with staminate flowers mixed with short styled pistillate flowers.[11] The long flowers styles tend to prevent wasps from laying their eggs within the ovules, while the short styled flowers are accessible for egg laying.[12]
All the native fig trees of the American continent are hermaphrodites, as well as species like Indian Banyan (F. benghalensis), Weeping Fig (F. benjamina), Indian Rubber Plant (F. elastica), Fiddle-leaved Fig (F. lyrata), Moreton Bay Fig (F. macrophylla), Chinese Banyan (F. microcarpa), Sacred Fig (F. religiosa) and Sycamore Fig (F. sycomorus).[13]
On the other hand the Common Fig (Ficus carica) is a gynodioecious plant, as well as F. aspera, Roxburgh Fig (F. auriculata), Mistletoe Fig (F. deltoidea), F. pseudopalma, Creeping Fig (F. pumila) and related species.
The hermaphrodite Common Figs are called "inedible figs" or caprifigs; in traditional culture in the Mediterranean region they were considered food for goats (Capra aegagrus). In the female fig trees, the male flower parts fail to develop; they produce the "edible figs". Fig wasps grow in Common Fig caprifigs but not in the female syconiums because the female flower is too long for the wasp to successfully lay her eggs in them. Nonetheless, the wasp pollinates the flower with pollen from the caprifig it grew up in. When the wasp dies, it is broken down by enzymes inside the fig. Fig wasps are not known to transmit any diseases harmful to humans.
When a caprifig ripens, another caprifig must be ready to be pollinated. In temperate climes, wasps hibernate in figs, and there are distinct crops. Common Fig[verification needed] caprifigs have three crops per year; edible figs have two. The first (breba)[14] produces small fruits called olynth. Some parthenocarpic cultivars of Common Figs do not require pollination at all, and will produce a crop of figs (albeit sterile) in the absence of caprifigs or fig wasps.
There is typically only one species of wasp capable of fertilizing the flowers of each species of fig, and therefore plantings of fig species outside of their native range results in effectively sterile individuals. For example, in Hawaii, some 60 species of figs have been introduced, but only four of the wasps that fertilize them have been introduced, so only four species of figs produce viable seeds there. This is an example of mutualism, in which each organism (fig plant and fig wasp) benefit each other, in this case reproductively.
The intimate association between fig species and their wasp pollinators, along with the high incidence of a one-to-one plant-pollinator ratio have long led scientists to believe that figs and wasps are a clear example of coevolution. Morphological and reproductive behavior evidence, such as the correspondence between fig and wasp larvae maturation rates, have been cited as support for this hypothesis for many years[15]. Additionally, recent genetic and molecular dating analyses have shown a very close correspondence in the character evolution and speciation phylogenies of these two clades.[5]
Selected species
This section needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Plants or the Plants Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (April 2008)
Ficus abutilifolia (Miq.) Miq. (= F. soldanella Warb.)
Ficus adhatodifolia Schott
Ficus aguaraguensis
Ficus albert-smithii
Ficus albipila — Abbey Tree, Phueng Tree, tandiran
Ficus altissima
Ficus amazonica
Ficus americana
Ficus andamanica
Ficus angladei
Ficus apollinaris Dugand (= F. petenensis Lundell)
Ficus aripuanensis
Ficus arpazusa[16]
Ficus aspera
Ficus aspera var. parcelli
Ficus aurea — Florida Strangler Fig
Ficus auriculata[verification needed] — Roxburgh Fig
Ficus barbata — Bearded Fig
Ficus battieri[verification needed]
Ficus beddomei — Thavital
Ficus benghalensis — Indian Banyan, Bengal Fig, East Indian Fig, borh (Pakistan), vad/vat/wad, nyagrodha, "indian fig"
Ficus benjamina — Weeping Fig, Benjamin's Fig
Ficus bibracteata
Ficus bizanae
Ficus blepharophylla
Ficus bojeri
Ficus broadwayi
Ficus bubu Warb.
Ficus burtt-davyi Hutch.
Ficus calyptroceras
Ficus capreifolia Del.
Ficus carchiana C.C.Berg
Ficus carica — Common Fig, anjeer (Iran, Pakistan), dumur (Bengali)
Ficus castellviana
Ficus catappifolia
Ficus citrifolia — Short-leaved Fig, Wild Banyantree
Ficus clusiifolia[verification needed]
Ficus congesta
Ficus cordata Thunb.
Ficus cordata ssp. salicifolia (Vahl) Berg
Ficus coronata — Creek Sandpaper Fig
Ficus costaricana (Liebm.) Miq.
Ficus cotinifolia
Ficus crassipes — Round-leaved Banana Fig
Ficus crassiuscula Standl.
Ficus craterostoma Warb. ex Mildbr. & Burr.
Ficus cristobalensis
Ficus cyclophylla
Ficus dammaropsis — Highland Breadfruit, kapiak (Tok Pisin)
Ficus dendrocida
Ficus deltoidea — Mistletoe Fig
Ficus destruens
Ficus drupacea
Ficus ecuadorensis C.C.Berg
Ficus elastica — Indian Rubber Plant, Rubber Fig, "rubber tree", "rubber plant"
Ficus elastica cv. 'Decora'
Ficus elastica var. variegata
Ficus elasticoides[verification needed]
Ficus elliotiana[verification needed]
Ficus enormis[verification needed]
Ficus erecta — Japanese fig, イヌビワ
Ficus faulkneriana
Ficus fischeri Warb. ex Mildbr. & Burr. (= F. kiloneura Hornby)
Ficus fistulosa
Ficus fraseri — Shiny Sandpaper Fig, White Sandpaper Fig, "figwood", "watery fig"
Ficus fulvo-pilosa Summerh.
Ficus gardneriana[verification needed]
Ficus gibbosa
Ficus gigantosyce Dugand
Ficus gilletii[verification needed]
Ficus glabra[verification needed]
Ficus glaberrima
Ficus glumosa (Miq.) Del. (=F. sonderi Miq.)
Ficus godeffroyi (endemic to Samoa, known as Mati.)
Ficus gomelleira[verification needed]
Ficus greenwoodii Summerh.
Ficus greiffiana
Ficus grenadensis
Ficus grossularioides — White-leaved Fig
Ficus guajavoides Lundell
Ficus guaranitica[17]
Ficus guianensis[18]
Ficus hartii
Ficus hebetifolia
Ficus hederacea
Ficus heterophylla
Ficus hirsuta
Ficus hirta Vahl
Ficus hispida
Ficus hispita L.
Ficus ilicina (Sond.) Miq.
Ficus illiberalis
Ficus insipida
Ficus insipida ssp. insipida
Ficus insipida ssp. scabra
Ficus kerkhovenii — Johore Fig [19]
Ficus luschnathiana (Miq.) Miq.
Ficus infectoria — Wavy-leaved Fig, plaksa
Ficus ingens (Miq.) Miq.
Ficus krukovii
Ficus lacor
Ficus lacunata
Ficus laevigata
Ficus laevis
Ficus lapathifolia
Ficus lateriflora
Ficus lauretana
Ficus loxensis C.C.Berg
Ficus lutea Vahl (= F. vogelii, F. nekbudu, F. quibeba Welw. ex Fical.)
Ficus lyrata — Fiddle-leaved Fig
Ficus macbridei[verification needed] Standl.
Ficus maclellandii — Alii Fig or Banana-Leaf Fig
Ficus macrocarpa[verification needed]
Ficus macrophylla — Moreton Bay Fig
Ficus magnifolia
Ficus malacocarpa
Ficus mariae[verification needed]
Ficus masonii Horne ex Baker
Ficus mathewsii
Ficus matiziana
Ficus mauritiana
Ficus maxima
Ficus maximoides C.C.Berg
Ficus meizonochlamys
Ficus mexiae
Ficus microcarpa — Chinese Banyan, Malayan Banyan, Curtain Fig, "Indian laurel"
Ficus microcarpa var. hillii — Hill's Fig
Ficus microcarpa var. nitida — often considered a subspecies of F. retusa or a distinct species
Ficus microchlamys
Ficus minahasae — longusei (Sulawesi[verification needed])
Ficus mollior F.Muell. ex Benth.
Ficus monckii
Ficus montana — Oakleaf Fig
Ficus muelleri
Ficus muelleriana
Ficus mutabilis
Ficus mutisii Dugand
Ficus mysorensis
Ficus natalensis Hochst. — mutuba (Luganda)
Ficus natalensis ssp. leprieurii
Ficus natalensis ssp. natalensis
Ficus neriifolia
Ficus nervosa
Ficus noronhae
Ficus nota — tibig
Ficus nymphaeifolia[verification needed]
Ficus oapana C.C.Berg
Ficus obliqua — Small-leaved Fig
Ficus obtusifolia
Ficus obtusiuscula (Miq.) Miq.
Ficus opposita — Sweet Sandpaper Fig, Sweet Fig, "figwood", "watery fig"
Ficus organensis (Miq.) Miq.
Ficus padifolia
Ficus pakkensis
Ficus pallida
Ficus palmata
Ficus pandurata
Ficus pantoniana — Climbing Fig
Ficus panurensis
Ficus pertusa
Ficus petiolaris (= F. palmeri)
Ficus pilosa
Ficus piresiana Vázq.Avila & C.C.Berg
Ficus platypoda — Desert Fig, Rock Fig
Ficus pleurocarpa — Banana Fig, Gabi Fig, Karpe Fig
Ficus polita Vahl
Ficus polita ssp. polita
Ficus prolixa G.Forst. (= F. mariannensis Merr.)
Ficus pseudopalma Blanco
Ficus pulchella
Ficus pumila — Creeping Fig
Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang
Ficus pyriformis
Ficus racemosa — Cluster Fig, Goolar Fig, udumbara (Sanskrit), umbar (India)
Ficus ramiflora
Ficus religiosa — Sacred Fig, arali, bo, pipal, pippala, pimpal (etc.), pou (Cambodia), Ashvastha
Ficus retusa — Taiwan Fig, Ginseng Fig, "Indian laurel", "Cuban-laurel"
Ficus rieberiana C.C.Berg
Ficus roraimensis
Ficus roxburghii[verification needed]
Ficus rubiginosa — Port Jackson Fig, Little-leaved Fig, Rusty Fig, damun (Sydney Language)
Ficus rumphii Blume — Rumpf's Fig
Ficus salicifolia Vahl (= F. pretoriae Burtt Davy) — Willow-leaved Fig
Ficus salzmanniana
Ficus sansibarica Warb.
Ficus sarmentosa[verification needed]
Ficus saussureana
Ficus scabra G.Forst.
Ficus schippii
Ficus schultesii
Ficus schumacheri
Ficus septica Burm. F. var. septica Moraceae — Hauli Tree in Philippines
Ficus sphenophylla
Ficus stahlii
Ficus stuhlmannii Warb.
Ficus subpuberula
Ficus superba
Ficus superba var. henneana
Ficus sur Forssk. (= F. capensis)
Ficus sycomorus — Sycamore Fig, Fig-mulberry
Ficus sycomorus ssp. sycomorus
Ficus sycomorus ssp. gnaphalocarpa (Miq.) C.C. Berg
Ficus tettensis Hutch. (= F. smutsii Verdoorn)
Ficus thonningii
Ficus tinctoria — Dye Fig, Humped Fig
Ficus tobagensis
Ficus tomentella[verification needed]
Ficus tomentosa
Ficus tonduzii Standl.
Ficus tremula Warb.
Ficus tremula ssp. tremula
Ficus triangularis
Ficus trichopoda Bak. (= F. hippopotami Gerstn.)
Ficus trigona L.f.
Ficus trigonata
Ficus triradiata — Red-stipule Fig
Ficus ulmifolia
Ficus umbellata[verification needed]
Ficus ursina
Ficus variegata Bl.
Ficus variegata var. chlorocarpa King
Ficus variolosa
Ficus velutina
Ficus verruculosa Warb.
Ficus virens — White Fig, pilkhan, an-borndi (Gun-djeihmi)
Ficus virens var. sublanceolata White Fig, New South Wales
Ficus virgata
Ficus wassa
Ficus watkinsiana — Watkins' Fig, Nipple Fig, Green-leaved Moreton Bay Fig
Ficus yoponensis Desv.
List of famous fig trees
Ashvastha — the world tree of Hinduism, held to be a supernatural F. religiosa
Bodhi tree — a F. religiosa
Charybdis Fig Tree of the Odyssey, presumably a F. carica
Curtain Fig Tree — a F. virens
Ficus Ruminalis — a F. carica
Plaksa — another supernatural fig in Hinduism; usually identified as F. religiosa but probably F. infectoria
Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree — a F. macrophylla
Sri Maha Bodhi — another F. religiosa. Planted in 288 BC, the oldest human-planted tree on record
The Great Banyan — a F. benghalensis, a clonal colony and once the largest organism known
Vidurashwatha — "Vidura's Sacred Fig tree", a village in India named after a famous F. religiosa that until recently stood there
See also
Abraham Mauricio Salazar, famous papel amate artist
Amphoe Pho Sai and Amphoe Suan Phueng, districts in Thailand named after Ficus species
Banyan
Edred John Henry Corner
Fig Newton (Fig Roll)
Fig-parrots
Figtree
Figs in the Bible
List of fruits
Miracles of Jesus: the parable of the barren fig tree
Mission fig
Naturopathic medicine
Nutrition
Pharmacosycea, a Ficus subgenus
Phytonutrients
Pippalada — Atharva-Veda scholar whose name means "Sacred Fig eater"
Strangler Fig
Footnotes
^ "Ficus L". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2009-01-16. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?4665. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
^ Halevy, Abraham H. (1989), Handbook of Flowering Volume 6 of CRC Handbook of Flowering, CRC Press, pp. 331, ISBN 9780849339165, http://books.google.com/?id=ZcTP7Kb01NAC&pg=PA331, retrieved 2009-08-25
^ Quigley's Plant identification 10:100
^ a b c Rønsted et al. (2005)
^ Harrison (2005)
^ Kislev et al. (2006a, b), Lev-Yadun et al. (2006)
^ Figs4fun.com
^ Denisowski (2007)
^ Armstrong, Wayne P. and Steven Disparti. 1998. A key to subgroups of dioecious* (gynodioecious) figs.
^ Friis, Ib; Balslev, Henrik; Selskab, Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes (2005), Plant diversity and complexity patterns: local, regional, and global dimensions:, Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, pp. 472, ISBN 9788773043042, http://books.google.com/?id=1QwCQFbPsa4C&pg=RA1-PA427, retrieved 2009-08-21
^ Jstor.org
^ Berg & Corner (2005)
^ CRFG (1996)
^ Machado et al. (2001)
^ Brazil. Described by Carauta & Diaz (2002): pp.38–39
^ Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina: Carauta & Diaz (2002): pp.64–66
^ Brazil: Carauta & Diaz (2002): pp.67–69
^ Changitrees
References
Berg, C.C. & Corner, E.J.H. (2005): Moraceae. In: Flora Malesiana Ser. I, vol. 17, part 2.
California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. (CRFG) (1996): Fig. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
Carauta, Pedro; Diaz, Ernani (2002): Figueiras no Brasil. Editora UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro. ISBN 85-7108-250-2
Denisowski, Paul (2007): Chinese-English Dictionary — Fig. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
Harrison, Rhett D. (2005): Figs and the diversity of tropical rain forests. Bioscience 55(12): 1053–1064. DOI:10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[1053:FATDOT]2.0.CO;2 PDF fulltext
Kislev, Mordechai E.; Hartmann, Anat & Bar-Yosef, Ofer (2006a): Early Domesticated Fig in the Jordan Valley. Science 312(5778): 1372. doi:10.1126/science.1125910 (HTML abstract) Supporting Online Material
Kislev, Mordechai E.; Hartmann, Anat & Bar-Yosef, Ofer (2006b): Response to Comment on "Early Domesticated Fig in the Jordan Valley". Science 314(5806): 1683b. doi:10.1126/science.1133748 PDF fulltext
Lev-Yadun, Simcha; Ne'eman, Gidi; Abbo, Shahal & Flaishman, Moshe A. (2006): Comment on "Early Domesticated Fig in the Jordan Valley". Science 314(5806): 1683a. doi:10.1126/science.1132636 PDF fulltext
Lewington, Anna & Parker, Edward (1999): Ancient trees: Trees that live for 1000 years: 192. London, Collins & Brown Limited.
Rønsted, Nina; Weiblen, George D.; Cook, James M.; Salamin, Nicholas; Machado, Carlos A. & Savoainen, Vincent (2005): 60 million years of co-divergence in the fig-wasp symbiosis. Proc. R. Soc. B 272(1581): 2593–2599. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3249 PDF fulltext
Shanahan, M.; Compton, S.G.; So, Samson & Corlett, Richard (2001): Fig-eating by vertebrate frugivores: a global review. Biological Reviews 76(4): 529–572. doi:10.1017/S1464793101005760 PDF fulltext Electonic appendices
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ficus
Figweb Major reference site for the genus Ficus
Video: Interaction of figs and fig wasps Multi-award-winning documentary
Fruits of Warm Climates: Fig
California Rare Fruit Growers: Fig Fruit Facts
North American Fruit Explorers: Fig
BBC: Fig fossil clue to early farming
Wayne's Word: Sex Determination & Life Cycle in Ficus carica
<Figs 4 Fun: The Weird Sex Life of the Fig
Video
How the fig tree strangles other plants for survival in the rainforest
