POLLINATION OF FIG 371 



of the genus Ficus. The unisexual flowers are borne on 

 the inside of a hollow inflorescence axis, a syficonium, which 

 opens to the outside by a constricted apical pore. The 

 swollen and fleshy infructescence is the " fruit " or edible 

 fig ; each " seed " is in reality a fruit, the product of a 

 separate flower. Pollination is carried out by various small 

 wasps. Of the 600 species of the genus the cultivated fig 

 of Mediterranean countries is best known. It has been a 

 subject of investigation from the time of Aristotle and 

 Theophrastus. Much of our exact knowledge is due to 

 Solms-Laubach (1882) ; more recently Tschirch and 

 Ravasini (191 1) have given an account, new in many details, 

 based on the examination of very extensive Italian material. 

 We follow the account of Tschirch (191 1). The pollination 

 of several other species has been described by Solms- 

 Laubach (1885) and Cunningham (1889). 



The wild fig, Ficiis carica, the " fico sylvatico " of the 

 Italian peasant, is still found in Italy, sometimes in com- 

 munities, as on the walls of Monteriggioni, sometimes as 

 isolated individuals. It bears three generations of flowers 

 and fruits in the year. The first, the " profichi," are formed 

 in February ; the inflorescences contain numerous male 

 flowers, just inside the mouth, and, lower down, numerous 

 " gall flowers." The gall flower has a short style, with an 

 open canal, and a single rudimentary ovide incapable of 

 forming a seed. Female wasps {Blastophaga grossorum) 

 enter the synconium and deposit eggs in the ovules of the 

 gall flowers, one in each. In the ovule the larva is hatched 

 out, feeds, and undergoes metamorphosis. The male 

 wasps gnaw their way out ; approach gall flowers containing 

 female wasps, pierce the ovarial wall, and fertilise the female 

 within ; they then die without leaving the synconium. 

 By this time the fig is ripe, though still tough and bitter, 

 and the male flowers are shedding their pollen. The female 

 wasps leave their abodes and crawl out of the synconium, 

 becoming liberally dusted with pollen on the way. They 

 are lazy and fly but little, crawling about the tree in search 

 of young inflorescences. These they find in the second 



