Ficus Natalensis / Natal Wild Fig

A fig is a flowerhead that has been turned inside-out. The fleshy outer part is the receptacle that has closed in on itself, to form a hollow sphere. There are hundreds of tiny male and female flowers on the inner surface, and can only be seen if a fig is broken open. A fig inflorescence is termed a synconium. The flowers are sealed up inside the hollow sphere, except for a tiny opening at the tip, called the ostiole. All figs are pollinated by wasps, called fig wasps. They are tiny, 1–2 mm long, and are attracted by a scent given off by the fig. The wasp enters the fig through the ostiole and lays its eggs in some of the flowers, and also pollinates some of the flowers. Once pollination is successful, the ostiole seals up. The wasp larvae feed on some of the developing seeds. When the wasps are fully developed, they mate inside the fig, the wingless males eat a hole through the fig wall, which allows the winged females to escape, and start the whole process again. Once the female wasps have left the fig, the seeds ripen and the fruit matures and attracts fruit-eating birds and bats, and monkeys, which eat the figs and disperse the seeds in their droppings. Mammals that can’t climb or fly, such as antelope, eat the dropped figs, and squirrels and rodents eat the seeds in the figs. What is remarkable about figs is that each species of fig has a particular species of fig wasp that pollinates it. The relationship between the fig and its fig wasp, is an example of mutualism, because both parties benefit. Figs are only pollinated by the wasp and the wasp only reproduces in the figs. In southern and eastern Africa, Ficus craterostoma is pollinated by Alfonsiella pipithiensis and in central Africa, it is A. michaloudi. At Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, these wasps do not occur, so the figs on the Ficus craterostoma specimens in the Garden remain unpollinated and no seeds, or ripe fruits, are produced.