1328 A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



2. The Mammoni. This type of fruit is formed at the end of May. Some 

 contain fully developed female flowers with long stigmas and fertile ovaries. 

 Others contain a mixture of fertile female flowers and " gall flowers " in vary- 

 ing proportions. Such fruits ripen at the end of September and are edible. 



Although the wasps try to lay eggs in the fertile female flowers, the 

 ovipositor cannot reach the ovary of the flower. The eggs are thus unsuit- 

 ably placed and soon perish. The only effect of the visitors on the female 

 flowers is, therefore, the deposition on the stigmas of pollen brought from 



the profichi. 



3. The Mamme. This type develops during the summer and bears only 

 " gall flowers " similar in structure to those found in the profichi. The fruits, 

 are small and remain on the trees during the winter. 



Thus we have three types of flowers, fertile male flowers which produce 

 pollen, fertile female flowers capable of being pollinated, and infertile 

 flowers whose function it is to nourish the grubs of the gall wasps which 

 bring about pollination. 



The Cultivated Fig derived from this wild species exists in two races. 

 Firstly the Caprifig or Goat Fig, which never produces any edible fruits, 

 and the Domestic Fig which does. Each race produces three types of flowers. 



In early spring the Caprifig produces profichi which are invaded by gall 

 wasps, who have passed the winter in the mamme. These wasps lay their 

 eggs on the " gall flowers ", one egg being laid in each ovary. The egg 

 hatches and the larva feeds on the tissues of the ovule and there undergoes 

 its metamorphosis. The male wasps are produced first, they gnaw their way 

 out of the ovary and move to " gall flowers " containing female wasps, 

 pierce the ovary walls and fertilize the female wasps within. The male 

 wasps then die without leaving the fruit. The female wasps escape from the 

 ovaries through the holes made by the male wasps, crawl out of the syco- 

 nium and in doing so become dusted with pollen from the male flowers 

 which are developed around the opening. 



The gravid females which have escaped from the profichi in June now 

 enter the fruits which were formed in May. In the case of the Caprifig, 

 these are the mammoni which, as we have seen, may contain a proportion 

 of fertile female flowers. These are pollinated by the pollen carried from 

 the male flowers of the profichi fruits while the " gall flowers " are used by 

 the wasps to raise a further crop of grubs. In the case of the domestic race, 

 the fruits are termed Pedagmioli, and contain only fertile female flowers 

 and these are pollinated but not galled. These fruits ripen into edible figs 

 successively from August to December and form the main commercial crop. 



A new generation of female wasps is produced in the mammoni, which 

 escapes in September often without becoming dusted with pollen, for only 

 a very few male flowers are found at the top of the fruit, and enter the third 

 type of fruit, the mamme. In the Caprifig these contain only " gall flowers ", 

 in which eggs are laid and the larvae -pass the winter in the Figs which 

 remain on the tree. These wasps after being fertilized, as described above, 

 enter the profichi in the spring and the cycle is completed. 



