Ficus pleurocarpa

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Ficus pleurocarpa
Ficus pleurocarpa.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Rosales
Family:
Moraceae
Genus:
Ficus
Species:
F. pleurocarpa
Binomial name
Ficus pleurocarpa
Synonyms

Ficus cylindrica Warb. [1]

Ficus pleurocarpa, commonly known as the banana fig, karpe fig or gabi fig, [2] is a fig that is endemic to the wet tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia. It has characteristic ribbed orange and red cylindrical syconia. [1] It begins life as a hemiepiphyte, later becoming a tree up to 25 m (82 ft) tall. F. pleurocarpa is one of the few figs known to be pollinated by more than one species of fig wasp.

Contents

Taxonomy

Ficus pleurocarpa was described by German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1874 in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. [3] Its specific epithet is derived from Ancient Greek pleuro-, ribbed, and -carpus, fruit, or flesh of the fruit, hence "ribbed fruit". This is derived from the 5–10 ribs that run along the length of the fruit. [1]

With over 750 species, Ficus is one of the largest angiosperm genera. [4] On the basis of morphology, English botanist E. J. H. Corner divided the genus into four subgenera [1] which were later expanded to six. [5] In this classification, F. pleurocarpa was placed in subseries Hesperidiiformes, series Malvanthereae, section Malvanthera of the subgenus Urostigma . [6] In his reclassification of the Australian Malvanthera, Dixon altered the delimitations of the series within the section, but left this species in series Hesperidiiformes. [1]

In 2005, Cornelis Berg completed Corner's treatment of the Moraceae for the Flora Malesiana; the completion of that work had been delayed since 1972 as a result of disagreements between Corner and C. J. J. G. van Steenis, editor of the Flora Malesiana. [7] Berg combined sections Stilpnophyllum and Malvanthera into an expanded section Stilpnophyllum. This left F. pleurocarpa in subsection Malvanthera, section Stilpnophyllum. [6]

Based on DNA sequences from the nuclear ribosomal internal and external transcribed spacers, Nina Rønsted and colleagues rejected previous subdivisions of the Malvanthera. Instead, they divided section Malvanthera into three subsections—Malvantherae, Platypodeae and Hesperidiiformes. In this system, F. pleurocarpa is in the new subsection Malvantherae. [6]

Description

Ficus pleurocarpa is a monoecious tree which grows up to 25 m (82 ft) tall. Its leaves are 150–257 mm (5.9–10.1 in) long and 49–100 mm (1.9–3.9 in) wide. Its syconia are orange or red in colour, 39–61 mm (1.5–2.4 in) long and 19–27 mm (0.75–1.06 in) in diameter. It begins life as a hemiepiphyte. [1]

Reproduction

Figs have an obligate mutualism with fig wasps, (Agaonidae); figs are pollinated only by fig wasps, and fig wasps can reproduce only in fig flowers. Generally, each fig species depends on a single species of wasp for pollination. The wasps are similarly dependent on their fig species to reproduce. F. pleurocarpa is pollinated by two species of fig wasp— Pleistodontes regalis and P. deuterus . [8] This is one of the few cases where more than one species of fig wasp has been raised from the same syconium. [1] The assumption that fig species are usually pollinated by just one species of fig wasp has been challenged by the discovery of cryptic species complexes among what was thought previously to be single species of fig wasps. [9]

Distribution

Ficus pleurocarpa is an Australian endemic. It is found in north-east Queensland, from Cape Tribulation south to the Atherton Tableland. It grows in lowland and upland wet tropical rainforests from sea level up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level.

Ecology

During a season of fruit scarcity, Ficus pleurocarpa sustained the musky rat-kangaroo population at one particular research site. Musky-rat.jpg
During a season of fruit scarcity, Ficus pleurocarpa sustained the musky rat-kangaroo population at one particular research site.

Figs are sometimes considered to be potential keystone species in communities of fruit-eating animals; their asynchronous fruiting patterns may cause them to be important fruit sources when other food sources are scarce. [10] Ficus pleurocarpa was the most largest contributor of fruit biomass in the forest canopy during periods of fruit scarcity, and was ranked as the species that made the second most important contribution to the frugivore community, although the authors of the study were unwilling to call it a keystone species. [11] However, during a season of fruit scarcity, F. pleurocarpa sustained the musky rat-kangaroo population at one particular research site [11]

The fruit of F. pleurocarpa fruit are relatively small and become soft when ripe. This makes them accessible to the entire fruit-eating community. However, most F. pleurocarpa figs are available in the canopy—only a small proportion of the fruit crop falls to the forest floor. [11]

Spectacled flying-foxes consume F. pleurocarpa fruit and act as seed dispersers. [12]

In a study of fungal succession, 104 species were observed over the course of a three-month incubation of F. pleurocarpa leaves. Using different methods, 53 fruiting species and 100 sterile morphospecies were isolated. [13] Cylindrocladium australiense , a new species of fungus in the family Nectriaceae described in 2006, was isolated from F. pleurocarpa leaves. [14]

Uses

The figs are edible fresh or dried and are described as "tasty at the fully ripe red stage". [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ficus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the mulberry family Moraceae

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes 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 common fig (F. carica) is a temperate species native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region, 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 considerable cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses.

<i>Ficus macrophylla</i> Species of banyan tree

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots.

<i>Ficus rubiginosa</i> a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceaea native to eastern Australia

Ficus rubiginosa, the rusty fig or Port Jackson fig, is a species of flowering plant native to eastern Australia in the genus Ficus. Beginning as a seedling that grows on other plants (hemiepiphyte) or rocks (lithophyte), F. rubiginosa matures into a tree 30 m (100 ft) high and nearly as wide with a yellow-brown buttressed trunk. The leaves are oval and glossy green and measure from 4 to 19.3 cm long and 1.25 to 13.2 cm wide.

<i>Ficus citrifolia</i> Species of fig native to the Americas

Ficus citrifolia, also known as the shortleaf fig, giant bearded fig, Jagüey, wild banyantree and Wimba tree, is a species of banyan native to southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America south to Paraguay. It is distinguished from the closely related Florida strangler fig mainly by the finer veining in the leaves.

Syconium

Syconium is the type of inflorescence borne by figs, formed by an enlarged, fleshy, hollow receptacle with multiple ovaries on the inside surface. In essence, it is really a fleshy stem with a number of flowers, so it is considered both a multiple and accessory fruit.

<i>Ficus aurea</i> Species of strangler fig

Ficus aurea, commonly known as the Florida strangler fig, golden fig, or higuerón, is a tree in the family Moraceae that is native to the U.S. state of Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Mexico and Central America south to Panama. The specific epithet aurea was applied by English botanist Thomas Nuttall who described the species in 1846.

Ficus maxima is a fig tree which is native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America south to Paraguay. Figs belong to the family Moraceae. The specific epithet maxima was coined by Scottish botanist Philip Miller in 1768; Miller's name was applied to this species in the Flora of Jamaica, but it was later determined that Miller's description was actually of the species now known as Ficus aurea. To avoid confusion, Cornelis Berg proposed that the name should be conserved for this species. Berg's proposal was accepted in 2005.

<i>Ficus</i> subg. <i>Pharmacosycea</i>

Pharmacosycea is one of six subgenera currently recognised in the genus Ficus. It was proposed by E. J. H. Corner in 1967 to unite section Pharmacosycea with Oreosycea.

<i>Ficus americana</i> Species of fig tree native to the Neotropics

Ficus americana, commonly known as the West Indian laurel fig or Jamaican cherry fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae which is native to the Caribbean, Mexico in the north, through Central and South America south to southern Brazil. It is an introduced species in Florida, USA. The species is variable; the five recognised subspecies were previously placed in a large number of other species.

Ficus triradiata, commonly known as the red stipule fig is a hemiepiphytic fig that is endemic to the wet tropical rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.

<i>Ficus platypoda</i>

Ficus platypoda, commonly known as the desert fig or rock fig, is a fig that is endemic to central and northern Australia. It is a lithophytic plant that grows on rocky outcrops, reaching 10 m in height.

<i>Ficus obliqua</i> Tree in the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean

Ficus obliqua, commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as Ficus eugenioides, it is a banyan of the genus Ficus, which contains around 750 species worldwide in warm climates, including the edible fig. Beginning life as a seedling, which grows on other plants (epiphyte) or on rocks (lithophyte), F. obliqua can grow to 60 m (200 ft) high and nearly as wide with a pale grey buttressed trunk, and glossy green leaves.

<i>Pleistodontes froggatti</i> Species of wasp

Pleistodontes froggatti is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with the Moreton Bay Fig, Ficus macrophylla, the species it pollinates. Outside of Australia, populations have become established in Hawaii and New Zealand where it was either accidentally introduced or arrived by long-distance dispersal.

Pleistodontes athysanus is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has generally been collected from the syconia of Ficus brachypoda, but two individuals have been collected from F. cerasicarpa.

Pleistodontes xanthocephalus is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with Ficus obliqua, the fig species it pollinates.

Pleistodontes greenwoodi is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with Ficus obliqua, the fig species it pollinates.

<i>Ficus septica</i> Species of fig

Ficus septica is a shrub or tree of the family Moraceae living at low altitudes from northeast India to north Australia (Queensland), and throughout Malesia. It lives on the edge of the vegetation, often in degraded environments. The seeds of this species are dispersed by numerous species, including fruit bats (Megachiroptera) when present.

<i>Ficus variegata</i> (plant) Species of fig tree

Ficus variegata is a well distributed species of tropical fig tree. It occurs in many parts of Asia, islands of the Pacific and as far south east as Australia. There is a large variety of local common names including common red stem fig, green fruited fig and variegated fig. A non strangling fig which may reach 30 metres in height. The tree is evergreen when young but becomes briefly deciduous as it grows older. In Australia the fruit are eaten by cassowaries and double-eyed fig parrots.

<i>Ficus subpisocarpa</i>

Ficus subpisocarpa is a species of small deciduous tree native to Japan, China, Taiwan and southeast Asia to the Moluccas (Ceram). Two subspecies are recognised. Terrestrial or hemiepiphytic, it reaches a height of 7 m (23 ft). Ants predominantly of the genus Crematogaster have been recorded living in stem cavities. Ficus subpisocarpa is pollinated by Platyscapa ishiiana (Agaonidae).

Nina Rønsted is a Danish botanist, who is Professor of Higher Plants at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dixon, Dale J. (2003). "A taxonomic revision of the Australian Ficus species in the section Malvanthera (Ficus subg. Urostigma: Moraceae)" (PDF). Telopea. 10 (1): 125–53. doi:10.7751/telopea20035611. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-04.
  2. 1 2 "Bush Tucker of the Wet Tropics" (PDF). Rainforest Explorer. Wet Tropics Management Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  3. ↑ "Ficus pleurocarpa". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved on 2008-07-13
  4. ↑ Frodin, David G. (2004). "History and concepts of big plant genera". Taxon. Taxon, Vol. 53, No. 3. 53 (3): 753–76. doi:10.2307/4135449. JSTOR   4135449.
  5. ↑ Rønsted, N.; Weiblen, G. D.; Clement, W. L.; Zerega, N. J. C.; Savolainen, V. (2008). "Reconstructing the phylogeny of figs (Ficus, Moraceae) to reveal the history of the fig pollination mutualism" (PDF). Symbiosis. 45 (1–3): 45–56.
  6. 1 2 3 Rønsted, Nina; George D. Weiblen; V. Savolainen; James M. Cook (2008). "Phylogeny, biogeography, and ecology of Ficus section Malvanthera (Moraceae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 48 (1): 12–22. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.04.005. PMID   18490180.
  7. ↑ Weiblen, G. D.; W. L. Clement (2007). "Flora Malesiana. Series I. Volume 17 parts 1 & 2" (PDF). Edinburgh Journal of Botany. 64 (3): 431–37. doi:10.1017/S0960428607064311.
  8. ↑ Lopez-Vaamonde, Carlos; Dale J. Dixon; James M. Cook; Jean-Yves Rasplus (2002). "Revision of the Australian species of Pleistodontes (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) fig-pollinating wasps and their host-plant associations". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 136 (4): 637–83. doi: 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00040.x .[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ Molbo, Drude; Carlos A. Machado; Jan G. Sevenster; Laurent Keller; Edward Allen Herre (2003). "Cryptic species of fig-pollinating wasps: Implications for the evolution of the fig–wasp mutualism, sex allocation, and precision of adaptation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 100 (10): 5867–72. Bibcode:2003PNAS..100.5867M. doi:10.1073/pnas.0930903100. PMC   156293 . PMID   12714682.
  10. ↑ Terborgh, John (1986). "Keystone plant resources in the tropical forests". In Michael E. Soulé (ed.). Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity. Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates. pp. 330–344. ISBN   978-0-87893-795-0.
  11. 1 2 3 Westcott, David A.; Matt G. Bradford; Andrew J. Dennis; Geoff Lipsett-Moore (2005). "Keystone Fruit Resources and Australia's Tropical Rain Forests". In J. Lawrence Dew; Jean Philippe Boubli (eds.). Tropical Fruits and Frugivores: The Search for Strong Interactors. Springer Netherlands. pp. 237–60. doi:10.1007/1-4020-3833-X. ISBN   978-1-4020-3833-4.
  12. ↑ Richards, G. C. (1990). "The Spectacled Flying-fox, Pteropus conspicillatus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), in north Queensland. 2. Diet, seed dispersal and feeding ecology". Australian Mammalogy. 13 (1–2): 25–31.
  13. ↑ Paulus, Barbara; Paul Gadek; Kevin Hyde (2006). "Successional Patterns of Microfungi in Fallen Leaves of Ficus pleurocarpa (Moraceae) in an Australian Tropical Rain Forest". Biotropica. 38 (1): 42–51. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00110.x. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05.
  14. ↑ Crous, Pedro W.; Johannes Z. Groenewald; Jean-Michel Risède; Philippe Simoneau; Kevin D. Hyde (1 January 2006). "Calonectria species and their Cylindrocladium anamorphs: species with clavate vesicles". Studies in Mycology. 55 (1): 213–26. doi:10.3114/sim.55.1.213. PMC   2104717 . PMID   18490981.
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