Ficus

Taxobox
name = "Ficus"

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = Sycamore Fig, "Ficus sycomorus"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
subclassis = Rosidae
unranked_ordo = Eurosids I
ordo = Rosales
familia = Moraceae
genus = "Ficus"
genus_authority = L.
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = About 800, see text

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemi-epiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as 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. 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. The Common Fig tree ("Ficus carica") is the first plant cited in the Bible. In Genesis 3:7 is described how Adam and Eve cover themselves with fig leaves when they discover that they are naked. The fig fruit is also included in the list of food found in the Promised Land, according to the Torah (Deut. 8). They are wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, dates (representing the honey).

Figs occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. Take, for example, the Common Fig, a small temperate deciduous tree whose fingered fig leaf is well-known in art and iconography; or the Weeping Fig ("F. benjamina") a hemi-epiphyte with thin tough leaves on pendulous stalks adapted to its rain forest habitat; or 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, often 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.

Although identifying many of the species can be difficult, figs as a group are relatively easy to recognize. Often the presence of aerial roots or the general Gestalt of the plant will give them away. Their fruit are also distinct. The fig fruit is in fact 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 biologistscite journal
quotes =
author = Nina Rønsted, George D Weiblen, James M Cook, Nicolas Salamin, Carlos A Machado and Vincent Savolainen
date = December 22, 2005
title = 60 million years of co-divergence in the fig–wasp symbiosis
journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
volume = 272
issue = 1581
pages = 2593–2599
publisher = Royal Society Publishing
location = London
issn = 0962-8452
pmid = 1559977
doi = 10.1098/rspb.2005.3249.
url = http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1559977
accessdate = 2008-03-3
doi_brokendate = 2008-06-25 ] . 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, that is they form 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, 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.

Ecology and uses

Figs 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 which may almost entirely subsist on figs when these are in plenty. Many Lepidoptera caterpillars, for example of 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 feed on fig leaves. The Citrus long-horned beetle ("Anoplophora chinensis"), for example, has larvae which 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).

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. glabrata" 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 methanedubious, and urban or potted plants should be considered toxic for that reason.

Figs 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 many hundreds of years. [Kislev "et al." (2006a, b), Lev-Yadun "et al." (2006)] .

Additionally, the fig tree has profoundly influenced culture through several religious traditions. 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").

Fig pollination and fig 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.

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" or "fruit without flower". [ [http://www.mandarintools.com/cgi-bin/wordlook.pl?word=fig&searchtype=english&where=whole entry for "fig"] from the [http://www.mandarintools.com/worddict.html mandarintools.com Chinese English dictionary] : Chinese-inline | s= 无花果 | t= 無花果 literally "without-flower-fruit."] 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. 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.

The fig plants can be monoicous (hermaphrodite) or dioicous (hermaphrodite and female) (see Berg & Corner, 2005).

All the native fig trees of the American continent are monoicous, as well as the species "F. benghalensis", "F. microcarpa", "F. religiosa", "F. benjamina", "F. elastica", "F. lyrata", "F. sycomorus", "F. macrophylla", etc.

On the other hand the Common Fig ("Ficus carica") is a dioicous plant, as well as, "F. aspera", "F. auriculata", "F. deltoidea", "F. pseudopalma", "F. pumila", etc.

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 fig 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 FigVerify source|date=November 2007 caprifigs have three crops per year; edible figs have two. The first (breba [http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html] ) 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, i.e. one organism (fig plant) can not propagate itself without the other one (fig wasp).

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. [Machado "et al." (2001)] . Additionally, recent genetic and molecular dating analyses have shown a very close correspondence in the character evolution and speciation phylogenies of these two clades. [Ronsted "et al." (2005)] .

Selected species

* "Ficus abutilifolia" (Miq.) Miq. (= "F. soldanella" Warb.)
* "Ficus adhatodifolia"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus aguaraguensis"
* "Ficus albert-smithii"
* "Ficus albipila" – Abbey Tree, Phueng Tree, "tandiran"
* "Ficus altissima"
* "Ficus amazonica"
* "Ficus americana"
* "Ficus andamanica"
* "Ficus angladei"
* "Ficus aripuanensis"
* "Ficus arpazusa"(Brazil [Described by Carauta & Diaz, pgs.38/39] )
* "Ficus aspera"
** "Ficus aspera" var. "parcelli"
* "Ficus aurea" – Florida Strangler Fig
* "Ficus auriculata"
* "Ficus barbata" – Bearded Fig
* "Ficus beddomei" – Thavital
* "Ficus benghalensis" – Indian Banyan, Bengal Fig, East Indian Fig, "borh" (Pakistan), "wad", "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 carica" – Common Fig, "anjeer" (Pakistan), "dumur" (Bengali)
* "Ficus castellviana"
* "Ficus catappifolia"
* "Ficus citrifolia" – Short-leaved Fig, Wild Banyantree
* "Ficus clusiifolia"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus cordata" Thunb.
** "Ficus cordata" ssp. "salicifolia" (Vahl) Berg
* "Ficus coronata" – Creek Sandpaper Fig
* "Ficus cotinifolia"
* "Ficus crassipes" round leaf banana fig
* "Ficus crassiuscula"
* "Ficus craterostoma" Warb. ex Mildbr. & Burr.
* "Ficus cristobalensis"
* "Ficus cyclophylla"
* "Ficus dammaropsis"
* "Ficus dendrocida"
* "Ficus deltoidea" – Mistletoe Fig
* "Ficus destruens" F.Muell. ex C.T.White
* "Ficus drupacea"
* "Ficus elastica" – Indian Rubber Plant, Rubber Fig, "rubber tree", "rubber plant"
** "Ficus elastica" cv. 'Decora'
** "Ficus elastica" var. "variegata"
* "Ficus elliotiana"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus enormis"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus erecta" – Japanese fig, イヌビワ
* "Ficus eugenioides"
* "Ficus faulkneriana"
* "Ficus fischeri" Warb. ex Mildbr. & Burr. (= "F. kiloneura" Hornby)
* "Ficus fistulosa"
* "Ficus fraseri" – Shiny Sandpaper Fig
* "Ficus gardneriana"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus gibbosa"
* "Ficus glabra"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus glaberrima"
* "Ficus glabrata"
* "Ficus glumosa" (Miq.) Del. (="F. sonderi" Miq.)
* "Ficus godeffroyi"
* "Ficus gomelleira"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus greiffiana"
* "Ficus grenadensis"
* "Ficus grossularioides" – White-leaved Fig
* "Ficus guaranitica" (Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina [Carauta & Diaz, pgs.64/66] )
* "Ficus guianensis" (Brazil [Carauta & Diaz, pgs.67/69] )
* "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" Willd.
* "Ficus luschnathiana" (Miq.) Miq.
* "Ficus indica" – "nyagrodha"
* "Ficus infectoria" – Wavy-leaved Fig, "plaksa"
* "Ficus ingens" (Miq.) Miq.
* "Ficus krukovii"
* "Ficus lacor"
* "Ficus lacunata"
* "Ficus laevigata" – Jamaican Cherry
* "Ficus laevis"
* "Ficus lapathifolia"
* "Ficus lateriflora"
* "Ficus lauretana"
* "Ficus lutea" Vahl (= "F. vogelii", "F. nekbudu", "F. quibeba" Welw. ex Fical.)
* "Ficus lyrata" – Fiddle-leaved Fig
* "Ficus macbrideii"
* "Ficus macrocarpa"Verify source|date=November 2007
* "Ficus macrophylla" – Moreton Bay Fig
* "Ficus magnifolia"
* "Ficus malacocarpa"
* "Ficus mariae"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus mathewsii"
* "Ficus matiziana"
* "Ficus mauritiana"
* "Ficus maxima"
* "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 minahasae" – "longusei" (SulawesiVerify source|date=November 2007 )
* "Ficus mollior" F.Muell. ex Benth.
* "Ficus monckii"
* "Ficus montana"
* "Ficus muelleri"
* "Ficus muelleriana"
* "Ficus mutabilis"
* "Ficus mysorensis"
* "Ficus natalensis" Hochst. – "mutuba" (Luganda)
** "Ficus natalensis" ssp. "leprieurii"
** "Ficus natalensis" ssp. "natalensis"
* "Ficus nervosa"
* "Ficus noronhae"
* "Ficus nota" – "tibig"
* "Ficus nymphaeifolia"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus obliqua" – Small-leaved Fig
* "Ficus obtusifolia"
* "Ficus obtusiuscula"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus opposita"
* "Ficus organensis" (Miq.) Miq.
* "Ficus padifolia"
* "Ficus pakkensis"
* "Ficus pallida"
* "Ficus palmata"
* "Ficus palmeri" – Now F. petiolaris
* "Ficus pandurata"
* "Ficus panurensis"
* "Ficus pertusa"
* "Ficus pilosa"
* "Ficus platypoda" – Desert Fig
* "Ficus pleurocarpa" F.Muell. banana 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" – "Indian laurel"
* "Ficus roraimensis"
* "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 saussureana"
* "Ficus schippii"
* "Ficus schultesii"
* "Ficus schumacheri"
* "Ficus sphenophylla"
* "Ficus stahlii"
* "Ficus stuhlmannii" Warb.
* "Ficus subpuberula"
* "Ficus superba"
* "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"Verify source|date=April 2008
* "Ficus tomentosa"
* "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 tuerckheimii"
* "Ficus ulmifolia"
* "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 virgata"
* "Ficus wassa"
* "Ficus watkinsiana" Green-leaved Moreton Bay Fig

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
* 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

ee 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-parrots
* Figtree
* List of fruits
* Miracles of Jesus: the parable of the barren fig tree
* Mission fig
* Pippalada - Atharva-Veda scholar whose name means "Sacred Fig eater"
* Strangler Fig
*Figs in the Bible

Footnotes

References

*cite book |title=Figueiras no Brasil |last=Carauta |first=Pedro |authorlink= |coauthors=Diaz, Ernani |year=2002 |publisher=Editora UFRJ |location=Rio de Janeiro |isbn=8571082502 |pages=
* (2005): Moraceae. Flora Malesiana. Ser. I, vol. 17, part 2.
*cite journal |last=Harrison |first=Rhett D. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2005 |month= |title=Figs and the diversity of tropical rain forests |journal=Bioscience |volume=55 |issue=12 |pages=1053–1064 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055 [1053:FATDOT] 2.0.CO;2 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
*cite journal |last=Kislev |first=Mordechai E. |authorlink= |coauthors=Hartmann, Anat; Bar-Yosef, Ofer |year=2006 |month= |title=Early Domesticated Fig in the Jordan Valley |journal=Science |volume=312 |issue=5778 |pages=1372 |doi=10.1126/science.1125910 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
*cite book |title=Ancient trees: Trees that live for 1000 years |last=Lewington |first=Anna |authorlink= |coauthors=Parker, Edward |year=1999 |publisher=Collins & Brown Limited |location=London |isbn= |pages=p. 192
*cite journal |last=Ronsted |first=Nina |authorlink= |coauthors=Weiblen, George D.; Cook, James M.; Salamin, Nicholas; Machado, Carlos A.; Savoainen, Vincent |year=2005 |month= |title=60 million years of co-divergence in the fig-wasp symbiosis |journal=Proceeding of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences |volume=272 |issue=1581 |pages=2593–2599 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3249 |url= |accessdate= |quote=
*cite journal |last=Shanahan |first=M. |authorlink= |coauthors=Compton, S. G.; So, Samson; Corlett, Richard |year=2001 |month= |title=Fig-eating by vertebrate frugivores: a global review |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=76 |issue= |pages=529–572 |doi=10.1017/S1464793101005760 |url= |accessdate= |quote=

External links

* [http://www.figweb.org/Ficus/index.htm Figweb] Major reference site for the genus "Ficus"
* [http://www.figweb.org/Interaction/Video/index.htm Video: Interaction of figs and fig wasps] Multi-award-winning documentary
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/fig.html Fruits of Warm Climates: Fig]
* [http://www.ficustrees.info Ficus Tree and Fig Care Information]
* [http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html California Rare Fruit Growers: Fig Fruit Facts]
* [http://www.nafex.org/figs.htm North American Fruit Explorers: Fig]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5038116.stm BBC: Fig fossil clue to early farming]