908 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Blastophaga wasp breeds and passes nearly its whole life. 



The Fig and the Cafi'ijig . — It is now generally conceded 

 that the edible fig is in some way descended from the 

 caprifig (29). The caprifig is the wild fig of the Mediter- 

 ranean region, though its original native home must be 

 searched for in the mountain regions of southern Arabia. 

 From its original habitat the caprifig tree was spread by 

 cultivation, or at least by transplantation, to other districts, 

 and finding suitable conditions, soon established itself as 

 a wild tree in the forests and mountains of the respective 

 counties suitable to its multiplication through seedlings. It 

 is now generally known to botanists that the caprifig 

 carries figs which contain three distict kinds of flowers, 

 male, female and gall flowers, all in the same fruit, as 

 will be described later on. But, besides, it is also known 

 (20) that there exists also a caprifig tree which only bears 

 fruit in which all the flowers are female or pistillate, 

 though trees of this kind are comparatively very rare. 

 Cuttings taken from either one of these trees would only 

 produce its kind, but seedlings might produce both kinds, 

 though probably the majority of the offspring would be 

 like the parent tree. 



Through cultivation and selection by man several types 

 of the caprifig tree have been originated, though they are 

 not at present .well understood or described. The Italian 

 botanist Pontedera, and after him Gallesio, were the first 

 ones to mention this fact, and although other botanists 

 have neglected to verify and through observations en- 

 large upon Pontedera's and Gallesio's reports, we have 

 no CTood reason to doubt that their ideas were in the main 

 correct. Gallesio describes (21) the purely female tree 

 of the caprifig as ^'■Jico semi-niula.'' In general he 

 recognizes among the caprifig the following types: 



Fico selvaggio , or common wild caprifig, with two or 

 three crops a year. 



