Ficus (fig trees)
Ficus (fig trees)
(Life; Embryophyta (plants); Angiospermae (flowering plants); Eudicotyledons; Order: Rosales; Family: Moraceae)
Back to figs and fig wasp home page Back to fig wasp home page
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Ficus carica Photo © Simon van Noort (Iziko) |
Ficus pumila Photo © Simon van Noort (Iziko) |
Web page development and text by Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum) and Jean-Yves Rasplus (INRA, France)
Copyright 2005 Iziko Museums of Cape Town
Ficus (fig trees)
(Life; Embryophyta (plants); Angiospermae (flowering plants); Eudicotyledons; Order: Rosales; Family: Moraceae)
Back to Ficus home page Back to figs and fig wasp home page Back to fig wasp home page
Introduction
There are about 755 fig tree species worldwide, with around 511 of them occurring in the Indo-Australasian region (Asia, Malesia, Pacific islands and Australia) and approximately 132 in the Neotropical region (Central and South America). In the Afrotropical region (Africa south of the sahara, including Madagascar) there are currently 112 recognised species, 36 of which are indigenous to southern Africa (25 species in South Africa).
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Ficus dryepondtiana Photo © Simon van Noort (Iziko) |
Ficus tremula tremula Photo © Simon van Noort (Iziko) |
The idea of this web site has been bouncing around among fig biologists for a number of years, and now that it has crystallised we envisage that it will become a comprehensive resource for information on the world's fig tree species. The content of these pages has been largely drawn from Kees Berg's revisions of Afrotropical Ficus species - numerous publications (see references) culminating in the regional treatment on African fig trees and fig wasps (Berg & Wiebes 1992). Kees Berg (Norwegian Arboretum, University of Bergen) is currently preparing a treatise of the Malesian Ficus for the Flora Malesiana and a treatise of the Neotropical Ficus species for the Flora Neotropica. Both Kees Berg and Stefan Ungricht (CBGP-INRA) have been instrumental in assisting with the compilation of the Indo-Australasian and Neotropical checklists.
| Ficus politoria Photo © Jean-Yves Rasplus |
Ficus brachyclada Photo © Jean-Yves Rasplus |
On this web site each species of Ficus has its own web page. These pages have been designed and layed out so that they will print on A4 size paper. The rational is to provide an online resource that can be printed out to produce a self-compiled field guide for a specific geographical area. This guide can then be used to facilitate the identification of fig species in the field and promote the collection of the associated fig wasp fauna from correctly identified host fig species.
Access to the fig species pages can either be via the alphabetical index, hierarchical classification or via the checklists for specific regions and countries. Once within the species pages, navigation can proceed from one species directly to the next most closely related species (ordering follows Berg in Berg & Wiebes 1992). At the moment species coverage is limited to the Afrotropical region, but page development for the rest of the world's fig species is in progress. Ultimately, we aim to have complete coverage of all Ficus species. If you have photographs of fig species not yet included and would like to contribute to this web site, please e-mail Simon van Noort.
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Ficus menabeensis Photo © Jean-Yves Rasplus |
Ficus cordata cordata Photo © Simon van Noort (Iziko) |
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Ficus glumosa Photo © Simon van Noort (Iziko) |
Ficus cordata cordata Photo © Vin Whitehead (Iziko) |
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Ficus rubra Photo © Jean-Yves Rasplus |
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Video of the interaction of figs and fig wasps
(Life; Embryophyta (plants); Angiospermae (flowering plants); Eudicotyledons; Order: Rosales; Family: Moraceae; Genus: Ficus)
Back to interaction of figs and fig wasp home page
Pollination ecology in tropical figs - a case of Mutualism - : a 26' film
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| Author: Georges MICHALOUD, Cameraman : Alain DEVEZ, Produced by: Service du Film de Recherche Scientifique, (SFRS) 92170 VANV Abstract : In this film, the symbiosis is analysed and some of the diverging features of the relationship between two fig species (Ficus natalensis leprieuri and F. ottoniifolia) and their pollinating wasps (respectively: Alfonsiella natalensis, later identified as Alfonsiella fimbriata) and Agaon camerunensis and Agaon gabonensis (later identified as belonging to genus Courtella) are compared through ecological, ethological, morphological and evolutionary aspects. This film has obtained two international awards; it has been shown on three different TV channels, and presented at universities in 33 countries. |
Web page development and text by Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum) and Jean-Yves Rasplus (INRA, France)
Copyright 2005 Iziko Museums of Cape Town
posted by hdc at 8:10 PM
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