Ficus maxima
Encyclopedia
Ficus maxima is a fig
tree which is native to Mexico
, Central America
, the Caribbean
and South America
south to Paraguay
. Figs belong to the Moraceae
family. The specific epithet maxima was coined by Scottish botanist Philip Miller
in 1768; Miller's name was applied to this species in the Flora of Jamaica, but it was later determined that Miller's description was actually of the species now known as Ficus aurea
. To avoid confusion, Cornelis Berg proposed that the name should be conserved for this species. Berg's proposal was accepted in 2005.
Individuals may reach heights of 30 m (100 ft). Like all figs it has an obligate mutualism with fig wasp
s; F. maxima is only pollinated by the fig wasp Tetrapus americanus
, and T. americanus only reproduces in its flowers. F. maxima fruit and leaves are important food resources for a variety of birds and mammals. It is used in a number of traditional remedies
across its range.
; each tree bears functional male and female flowers. The figs are borne singly and are 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) in diameter (sometimes up to 2.5 cm [1 in]).
(Moraceae
) is one of the largest angiosperm genera. (Frodin ranked it as the 31st largest.) Ficus maxima is classified in subgenus Pharmacosycea
, section Pharmacosycea, subsection Petenenses. Although recent work suggests that subgenus Pharmacosycea is polyphyletic, section Pharmacosycea appears to be monophyletic
and is a sister group to the rest of the genus Ficus.
In 1768, Scottish
botanist Philip Miller
described Ficus maxima, citing Linnaeus' Hortus Cliffortianus
(1738) and Hans Sloane
's Catalogus plantarum quæ in insula Jamaica (1696). Sloane's illustration of this plant (published in his 1725 A voyage to the islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica) depicted it with figs borne singly, a characteristic of the Ficus subgenus Pharmacosycea. A closer examination of Sloane's description led Cornelis Berg to conclude that the illustration depicted a member of the subgenus Urostigma, almost certainly F. aurea
, and that the illustration of singly borne figs was probably artistic license
. Berg located the plant collection upon which Sloane's illustration was based and concluded that Miller's F. maxima was, in fact, F. aurea.
In 1806 the name Ficus radula was applied to material belonging to this species. The description, based on material collected in Venezuela
by German
naturalist Alexander von Humboldt
and French
botanist Aimé Bonpland
, was published in Carl Ludwig Willdenow
's fourth edition of Linnaeus' Species Plantarum
. This is the oldest description that can unequivocally be applied to this species. In 1847 Danish botanist Frederik Michael Liebmann
applied the name Pharmacosycea glaucescens to Mexican material belonging to this species. (It was transferred to the genus Ficus by Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel
in 1867.) In 1849 the name Ficus suffocans was applied to Jamaican material belonging to this species in August Grisebach
's Flora of the British West Indian Islands.
In their 1914 Flora of Jamaica, William Fawcett
and Alfred Barton Rendle
linked Sloane's illustration to F. suffocans. Gordon DeWolf agreed with their conclusion and used the name F. maxima for that species in the 1960 Flora of Panama, supplanting F. radula and F. glaucescens. Since this use has become widespread, Berg proposed that the name Ficus maxima be conserved
in the way DeWolf had used it with a new type
(Krukoff's 1934 collection from Amazonas, Brazil
). This proposal was accepted by the nomenclatural committee in 2005.
and a variety of indigenous languages are spoken. Across this range, it is known by a variety of common names.
s (Agaonidae); figs are only pollinated by fig wasps, and fig wasps are only able to reproduce in fig flowers. Generally, each fig species depends on a single species of fig wasp for pollination, and each species of fig wasp can only reproduce in the flowers of a single species of fig tree. Ficus maxima is pollinated by Tetrapus americanus
, although recent work suggests that the species known as T. americanus is a cryptic species complex
of at least two species, which are not sister taxa.
Figs have complicated inflorescence
s called syconia
. Flowers are entirely contained within an enclosed structure. Their only connection with the outside is through a small pore called ostiole
. Monoecious figs like F. maxima have both male and female flowers within the syconium. Female flowers mature first. Once mature, they produce a volatile
chemical attractant which is recognised by female wasps belonging to the species Tetrapus americanus. Female wasps of this species are about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and are capable of producing about 190 offspring.
Female fig wasps arrive carrying pollen from their natal tree and squeeze their way through the ostiole into the interior of the syconium. The syncomium bears 500–600 female flowers arranged in multiple layers - those that are closer to the outer wall of the fig have short pedicel
s and long styles, while those that are located closer to the interior of the chamber have long pedicels and short styles. Female wasps generally lay their eggs
in the short-styled flowers, while longer-styled flowers were more likely to be pollinated. The eggs hatch and the larvae parasitise the flowers in which they were laid. Pollinated flowers which have not been parasitised give rise to seeds.
Male wasps mature and emerge before the females. They mate with the females, which have not yet emerged from their gall
s. Males cut exit holes in the outer wall of the syconium, through which the females exit the fig. The male flowers mature around the same time as the female wasps emerge and shed their pollen on the newly emerged females; like about one third of figs, F. maxima is passively pollinated. The newly emerged female wasps leave through the exit holes the males have cut and fly off to find a syconium in which to lay their eggs. The figs then ripen. The ripe figs are eaten by a variety of mammals and birds which disperse
the seeds.
and Bolivia
in the south to Mexico
in the north, where it is widespread and common. It is found in fourteen states across the southern and central portion of the country. It occurs in tropical deciduous forest, tropical semi-evergreen forest, tropical evergreen forest, oak forest and in aquatic or subaquatic habitats. It is found throughout Central America
- in Guatemala
, Belize
, Honduras
, Nicaragua
, El Salvador
, Costa Rica
and Panama
. It is present in Cuba
and Jamaica
in the Greater Antilles
, and Trinidad and Tobago
in the southern Caribbean
. In South America
it ranges through Colombia
, Venezuela
, Guyana
, Suriname
, French Guiana
, Ecuador
, Peru
, Bolivia, Paraguay and in the Brazil
ian states of Amapá
, Amazonas, Mato Grosso
, Minas Gerais
, Pará
.
for communities of fruit-eating animals; their asynchronous
fruiting patterns may cause them to be important fruit sources when other food sources are scarce. At Tinigua National Park in Colombia
Ficus maxima was an important fruit producer during periods of fruit scarcity in one of three years. This led Colombian ecologist Pablo Stevens to consider it a possible keystone species, but he decided against including it in his final list of potential keystone species at the site.
Ficus maxima fruit are consumed by birds and mammals. These animals act as seed dispersers
when the defaecate or regurgitate intact seeds, or when they drop fruit below the parent tree. In Panama, F. maxima fruit were reported to have relatively high levels of protein
and low levels of water-soluble carbohydrates in a study of Ficus fruit consumed by bat
s.
Black howler monkey
s in Belize consume fruit and young and mature leaves of F. maxima. In southern Veracruz
, Mexico, F. maxima was the third most important food source for a studied population of Mexican howler monkey
s; they consumed young leaves, mature leaves, mature fruit and petioles
. Venezuelan red howler
s were observed feeding F. maxima fruit in Colombia
.
The interaction between figs and fig wasps is especially well-known (see section on reproduction, above). In addition to their pollinators, Ficus species are exploited by a group of non-pollinating chalcidoid wasps
whose larvae develop in its figs. Both pollinating and non-pollinating wasps serve as hosts for parasitoid
wasps. In addition to T. americanus, F. maxima figs from Brazil were found to contain non-pollinating wasps belonging to the genus Critogaster, mites, ants, beetles, and diptera
n and lepidoptera
n larvae. Norwegian biologist Frode Ødegaard recorded a total of 78 phytophagous (plant-eating) insect species on a single F. maxima tree in Panama
nian dry forest
—59 wood eating insects, 12 which fed on green plant parts, and 7 flower visitors. It supported the fourth most specialised phytophagous insect fauna and the second largest wood-feeding insect fauna among the 24 tree species sampled.
to treat snakebite
. Leaves are moistened by chewing and applied to the bite. In the provinces of Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe in Ecuador
, a leaf infusion is used to treat internal inflammations. The Paya
of Honduras
use the species for firewood, and to treat gingivitis
. The Tacana
of Bolivia
use the latex to treat intestinal parasite
s, as do people in Guatemala
's Petén Department. In Brazil
it is used as an anthelmintic
, antirheumatic, anti-anaemic
and antipyretic
. The latex is also used to bind limestone soils to produce cal
, an adobe
cement.
Gaspar Diaz M. and colleagues isolated four methoxyflavones
from F. maxima leaves. David Lentz and colleagues observed antimicrobial
activity in Ficus maxima extracts.
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
tree which is native to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
south to Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
. Figs belong to the Moraceae
Moraceae
Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 40 genera and over 1000 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates...
family. The specific epithet maxima was coined by Scottish botanist Philip Miller
Philip Miller
Philip Miller FRS was a Scottish botanist.Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death...
in 1768; Miller's name was applied to this species in the Flora of Jamaica, but it was later determined that Miller's description was actually of the species now known as Ficus aurea
Ficus aurea
Ficus aurea, commonly known as the Florida strangler fig , golden fig, or higuerón, is a tree in the family Moraceae that is native to the U.S. state of Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Mexico and Central America south to Panama...
. To avoid confusion, Cornelis Berg proposed that the name should be conserved for this species. Berg's proposal was accepted in 2005.
Individuals may reach heights of 30 m (100 ft). Like all figs it has an obligate mutualism with fig wasp
Fig wasp
Fig wasps are wasps of the family Agaonidae which pollinate figs or are otherwise associated with figs, a coevolutional relationship that has been developing for at least 80 million years...
s; F. maxima is only pollinated by the fig wasp Tetrapus americanus
Tetrapus americanus
Tetrapus americanus is a species of fig wasp which is native to South and Central America. It has an obligate mutualism with Ficus maxima, the fig species it pollinates....
, and T. americanus only reproduces in its flowers. F. maxima fruit and leaves are important food resources for a variety of birds and mammals. It is used in a number of traditional remedies
Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine comprises unscientific knowledge systems that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine...
across its range.
Description
Ficus maxima is a tree which ranges from 5–30 m (16–100 ft) tall. Leaves vary in shape from long and narrow to more oval, and range from 6–24 (cm) (2–9 in) long and from 2.5–12 cm (1–5 in) wide. F. maxima is monoeciousPlant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
; each tree bears functional male and female flowers. The figs are borne singly and are 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) in diameter (sometimes up to 2.5 cm [1 in]).
Taxonomy
With about 750 species, FicusFicus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
(Moraceae
Moraceae
Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 40 genera and over 1000 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates...
) is one of the largest angiosperm genera. (Frodin ranked it as the 31st largest.) Ficus maxima is classified in subgenus Pharmacosycea
Pharmacosycea
Pharmacosycea is one of six subgenera currently recognised in the genus Ficus. It was proposed by E. J. H. Corner in 1967 to unite section Pharmacosycea with Oreosycea.Recent molecular phylogenies has shown that the subgenus is polyphyletic...
, section Pharmacosycea, subsection Petenenses. Although recent work suggests that subgenus Pharmacosycea is polyphyletic, section Pharmacosycea appears to be monophyletic
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
and is a sister group to the rest of the genus Ficus.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
botanist Philip Miller
Philip Miller
Philip Miller FRS was a Scottish botanist.Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death...
described Ficus maxima, citing Linnaeus' Hortus Cliffortianus
Hortus Cliffortianus
The Hortus Cliffortianus is a work of early botanical literature published in 1738.The work was a collaboration between Carl Linnaeus and Georg Dionysius Ehret, financed by George Clifford in 1735-1736. Clifford, a wealthy Amsterdam banker was a keen botanist with a large herbarium and governor of...
(1738) and Hans Sloane
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, PRS was an Ulster-Scot physician and collector, notable for bequeathing his collection to the British nation which became the foundation of the British Museum...
's Catalogus plantarum quæ in insula Jamaica (1696). Sloane's illustration of this plant (published in his 1725 A voyage to the islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica) depicted it with figs borne singly, a characteristic of the Ficus subgenus Pharmacosycea. A closer examination of Sloane's description led Cornelis Berg to conclude that the illustration depicted a member of the subgenus Urostigma, almost certainly F. aurea
Ficus aurea
Ficus aurea, commonly known as the Florida strangler fig , golden fig, or higuerón, is a tree in the family Moraceae that is native to the U.S. state of Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Mexico and Central America south to Panama...
, and that the illustration of singly borne figs was probably artistic license
Artistic license
Artistic licence is a colloquial term, sometimes euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of...
. Berg located the plant collection upon which Sloane's illustration was based and concluded that Miller's F. maxima was, in fact, F. aurea.
In 1806 the name Ficus radula was applied to material belonging to this species. The description, based on material collected in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
by German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
naturalist Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
and French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
botanist Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland was a French explorer and botanist.Bonpland's real name was Goujaud, and he was born in La Rochelle, a coastal city in France. After serving as a surgeon in the French army, and studying under J. N...
, was published in Carl Ludwig Willdenow
Carl Ludwig Willdenow
Carl Ludwig Willdenow was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants...
's fourth edition of Linnaeus' Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work by Carl Linnaeus. Its prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today. This means that the first names to be considered validly published in botany are those that appear...
. This is the oldest description that can unequivocally be applied to this species. In 1847 Danish botanist Frederik Michael Liebmann
Frederik Michael Liebmann
Frederik Michael Liebmann was a Danish botanist. Liebmann studied botany at the University of Copenhagen, although he never obtained a formal qualification. He went on study tours of Germany and Norway before becoming lecturer at the Danish Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College in 1837...
applied the name Pharmacosycea glaucescens to Mexican material belonging to this species. (It was transferred to the genus Ficus by Dutch botanist Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel
Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel
Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel was a Dutch botanist.He was head of the botanical gardens at Rotterdam , Amsterdam and Utrecht . He directed the Rijksherbarium at Leiden from 1862...
in 1867.) In 1849 the name Ficus suffocans was applied to Jamaican material belonging to this species in August Grisebach
August Grisebach
August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach was a German botanist and phytogeographer. Born in Hannover on April 17, 1814, he died at Göttingen on May 9, 1879.- Biography :...
's Flora of the British West Indian Islands.
In their 1914 Flora of Jamaica, William Fawcett
William Fawcett (botanist)
William Fawcett was a British botanist and coauthor of the Flora of Jamaica.Fawcett was Director of Public Gardens and Plantations in Jamaica from 1887 to 1908...
and Alfred Barton Rendle
Alfred Barton Rendle
Alfred Barton Rendle FRS was an English botanist.Rendle was born in Lewisham and studied at St John's College, Cambridge...
linked Sloane's illustration to F. suffocans. Gordon DeWolf agreed with their conclusion and used the name F. maxima for that species in the 1960 Flora of Panama, supplanting F. radula and F. glaucescens. Since this use has become widespread, Berg proposed that the name Ficus maxima be conserved
Conserved name
A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning a "name which should be conserved"...
in the way DeWolf had used it with a new type
Biological type
In biology, a type is one particular specimen of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached...
(Krukoff's 1934 collection from Amazonas, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
). This proposal was accepted by the nomenclatural committee in 2005.
Common names
Ficus maxima ranges from the northern Caribbean to southern South America, in countries where English, Spanish, PortuguesePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and a variety of indigenous languages are spoken. Across this range, it is known by a variety of common names.
| Common names of Ficus maxima | |
| Common name | Usage |
|---|---|
| Amäk wäm | Lacandon Maya Lacandon The Lacandon are one of the Maya peoples who live in the jungles of the Mexican state of Chiapas, near the southern border with Guatemala. Their homeland, the Lacandon Jungle, lies along the Mexican side of the Usumacinta River and its tributaries. The Lacandon are one of the most isolated and... in Chiapas Chiapas Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
| Amate | Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
| Caxinguba | Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |
| Hicatee Fig | Belize Belize Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official... |
| Higillo | Honduras Honduras Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize... |
| Higueron | Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... |
| Maja | Tacana Tacana The Tacana language is a Western Tacanan language spoken by approximately 1,800 Tacana people in Bolivia out of an ethnic population of approximately 5,000 in the jungles along the Beni and Madre de Dios rivers.-External links:*... of Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... |
| Matapal | Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles... |
| Sàhàshá | Paya Paya Paya may refer to:* Paya Indians - a tribe in Honduras that speaks the Paya language.* Sri paya, a spicy meat stew native to Pakistan and North India* Paya Jaras - a state constituency in Malaysia.... of Honduras Honduras Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize... |
| White fig | Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic... |
Reproduction
Figs have an obligate mutualism with fig waspFig wasp
Fig wasps are wasps of the family Agaonidae which pollinate figs or are otherwise associated with figs, a coevolutional relationship that has been developing for at least 80 million years...
s (Agaonidae); figs are only pollinated by fig wasps, and fig wasps are only able to reproduce in fig flowers. Generally, each fig species depends on a single species of fig wasp for pollination, and each species of fig wasp can only reproduce in the flowers of a single species of fig tree. Ficus maxima is pollinated by Tetrapus americanus
Tetrapus americanus
Tetrapus americanus is a species of fig wasp which is native to South and Central America. It has an obligate mutualism with Ficus maxima, the fig species it pollinates....
, although recent work suggests that the species known as T. americanus is a cryptic species complex
Cryptic species complex
In biology, a cryptic species complex is a group of species which satisfy the biological definition of species—that is, they are reproductively isolated from each other—but whose morphology is very similar ....
of at least two species, which are not sister taxa.
Figs have complicated inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s called syconia
Syconium
A syconium is the type of fruit borne by figs , formed of an enlarged, fleshy, hollow receptacle with multiple ovaries on the inside surface. In essence, it is really a fleshy stem with a number of flowers, so it is considered both a multiple and accessory fruit. The name comes from the Greek word...
. Flowers are entirely contained within an enclosed structure. Their only connection with the outside is through a small pore called ostiole
Ostiole
An ostiole is a small hole or opening through which algae or ascomycetal fungi release their mature spores. The term is also used in higher plants, for example to denote the opening of the involuted fig inflorescence through which fig wasps enter to pollinate and breed....
. Monoecious figs like F. maxima have both male and female flowers within the syconium. Female flowers mature first. Once mature, they produce a volatile
Volatility (chemistry)
In chemistry and physics, volatility is the tendency of a substance to vaporize. Volatility is directly related to a substance's vapor pressure. At a given temperature, a substance with higher vapor pressure vaporizes more readily than a substance with a lower vapor pressure.The term is primarily...
chemical attractant which is recognised by female wasps belonging to the species Tetrapus americanus. Female wasps of this species are about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and are capable of producing about 190 offspring.
Female fig wasps arrive carrying pollen from their natal tree and squeeze their way through the ostiole into the interior of the syconium. The syncomium bears 500–600 female flowers arranged in multiple layers - those that are closer to the outer wall of the fig have short pedicel
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
s and long styles, while those that are located closer to the interior of the chamber have long pedicels and short styles. Female wasps generally lay their eggs
Oviposition
Oviposition is the process of laying eggs by oviparous animals.Some arthropods, for example, lay their eggs with an organ called the ovipositor.Fish , amphibians, reptiles, birds and monetremata also lay eggs....
in the short-styled flowers, while longer-styled flowers were more likely to be pollinated. The eggs hatch and the larvae parasitise the flowers in which they were laid. Pollinated flowers which have not been parasitised give rise to seeds.
Male wasps mature and emerge before the females. They mate with the females, which have not yet emerged from their gall
Gall
Galls or cecidia are outgrowths on the surface of lifeforms caused by invasion by other lifeforms, such as parasites or bacterial infection. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues and can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects and mites...
s. Males cut exit holes in the outer wall of the syconium, through which the females exit the fig. The male flowers mature around the same time as the female wasps emerge and shed their pollen on the newly emerged females; like about one third of figs, F. maxima is passively pollinated. The newly emerged female wasps leave through the exit holes the males have cut and fly off to find a syconium in which to lay their eggs. The figs then ripen. The ripe figs are eaten by a variety of mammals and birds which disperse
Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
the seeds.
Distribution
Ficus maxima ranges from ParaguayParaguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
in the south to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in the north, where it is widespread and common. It is found in fourteen states across the southern and central portion of the country. It occurs in tropical deciduous forest, tropical semi-evergreen forest, tropical evergreen forest, oak forest and in aquatic or subaquatic habitats. It is found throughout Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
- in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. It is present in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in the Greater Antilles
Greater Antilles
The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.-Greater Antilles in context :The islands of the Caribbean Sea, collectively known as...
, and Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
in the southern Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. In South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
it ranges through Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Bolivia, Paraguay and in the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian states of Amapá
Amapá
Amapá is one of the states of Brazil, located in the extreme north, bordering French Guiana and Suriname to the north. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south and west is the Brazilian state of Pará. Perhaps one of the main features of the state is the River Oiapoque, as it was once...
, Amazonas, Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
, Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...
.
Ecology
Figs are sometimes considered to be potential keystone speciesKeystone species
A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. Such species play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and...
for communities of fruit-eating animals; their asynchronous
Asynchrony
Asynchrony, in the general meaning, is the state of not being synchronized.* Asynchronous learning* Collaborative editing systemsIn specific terms of digital logic and physical layer of communication, an asynchronous process does not require a clock signal, in contrast with synchronous and...
fruiting patterns may cause them to be important fruit sources when other food sources are scarce. At Tinigua National Park in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
Ficus maxima was an important fruit producer during periods of fruit scarcity in one of three years. This led Colombian ecologist Pablo Stevens to consider it a possible keystone species, but he decided against including it in his final list of potential keystone species at the site.
Ficus maxima fruit are consumed by birds and mammals. These animals act as seed dispersers
Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
when the defaecate or regurgitate intact seeds, or when they drop fruit below the parent tree. In Panama, F. maxima fruit were reported to have relatively high levels of protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
and low levels of water-soluble carbohydrates in a study of Ficus fruit consumed by bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s.
Black howler monkey
Guatemalan Black Howler
The Guatemalan black howler, or Yucatan black howler, is a species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central America. It is found in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico, in and near the Yucatan Peninsula. It lives in evergreen, semi-deciduous and lowland rain forests...
s in Belize consume fruit and young and mature leaves of F. maxima. In southern Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
, Mexico, F. maxima was the third most important food source for a studied population of Mexican howler monkey
Mexican Howler Monkey
The Mexican howler is a subspecies of the mantled howler, A. palliata. Its range includes southeastern Mexico and Guatemala. The Mexican howler is sympatric with the Guatemalan black howler, A. pigra, in Tabasco, Mexico. The Mexican howler differs from the golden-mantled howler, A...
s; they consumed young leaves, mature leaves, mature fruit and petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. Venezuelan red howler
Venezuelan Red Howler
The Venezuelan red howler is a South American species of howler monkey, a type of New World monkey. It is found in the western Amazon Basin in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil...
s were observed feeding F. maxima fruit in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
The interaction between figs and fig wasps is especially well-known (see section on reproduction, above). In addition to their pollinators, Ficus species are exploited by a group of non-pollinating chalcidoid wasps
Chalcid wasp
Chalcid wasps belong to the insect order Hymenoptera, and are one of the largest groups within the order, with some 22,000 known species, and an estimated total diversity of anywhere from 60,000 to more than 500,000 species, meaning the vast majority have yet to be discovered and described.Most of...
whose larvae develop in its figs. Both pollinating and non-pollinating wasps serve as hosts for parasitoid
Parasitoid
A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host organism in a relationship that is in essence parasitic; unlike a true parasite, however, it ultimately sterilises or kills, and sometimes consumes, the host...
wasps. In addition to T. americanus, F. maxima figs from Brazil were found to contain non-pollinating wasps belonging to the genus Critogaster, mites, ants, beetles, and diptera
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
n and lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
n larvae. Norwegian biologist Frode Ødegaard recorded a total of 78 phytophagous (plant-eating) insect species on a single F. maxima tree in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nian dry forest
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they have long dry seasons...
—59 wood eating insects, 12 which fed on green plant parts, and 7 flower visitors. It supported the fourth most specialised phytophagous insect fauna and the second largest wood-feeding insect fauna among the 24 tree species sampled.
Uses
Ficus maxima is used by the Lacandon MayaLacandon
The Lacandon are one of the Maya peoples who live in the jungles of the Mexican state of Chiapas, near the southern border with Guatemala. Their homeland, the Lacandon Jungle, lies along the Mexican side of the Usumacinta River and its tributaries. The Lacandon are one of the most isolated and...
to treat snakebite
Snakebite
A snakebite is an injury caused by a bite from a snake, often resulting in puncture wounds inflicted by the animal's fangs and sometimes resulting in envenomation. Although the majority of snake species are non-venomous and typically kill their prey with constriction rather than venom, venomous...
. Leaves are moistened by chewing and applied to the bite. In the provinces of Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, a leaf infusion is used to treat internal inflammations. The Paya
Paya
Paya may refer to:* Paya Indians - a tribe in Honduras that speaks the Paya language.* Sri paya, a spicy meat stew native to Pakistan and North India* Paya Jaras - a state constituency in Malaysia....
of Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
use the species for firewood, and to treat gingivitis
Gingivitis
Gingivitis is a term used to describe non-destructive periodontal disease. The most common form of gingivitis is in response to bacterial biofilms adherent to tooth surfaces, termed plaque-induced gingivitis, and is the most common form of periodontal disease...
. The Tacana
Tacana
The Tacana language is a Western Tacanan language spoken by approximately 1,800 Tacana people in Bolivia out of an ethnic population of approximately 5,000 in the jungles along the Beni and Madre de Dios rivers.-External links:*...
of Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
use the latex to treat intestinal parasite
Intestinal parasite
Intestinal parasites are parasites that populate the gastro-intestinal tract in humans and other animals. They can live throughout the body, but most prefer the intestinal wall. Means of exposure include: ingestion of undercooked meat, drinking infected water, and skin absorption...
s, as do people in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
's Petén Department. In Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
it is used as an anthelmintic
Anthelmintic
Anthelmintics or antihelminthics are drugs that expel parasitic worms from the body, by either stunning or killing them. They may also be called vermifuges or vermicides .-Pharmaceutical classes:...
, antirheumatic, anti-anaemic
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
and antipyretic
Antipyretic
Antipyretics ; an-tee-pahy-ret-iks; from the Greek anti, against, and pyreticus, are drugs or herbs that reduce fever. Normally, they will not lower body temperature if one does not have a fever. Antipyretics cause the hypothalamus to override an interleukin-induced increase in temperature...
. The latex is also used to bind limestone soils to produce cal
Cal
Cal may refer to:* CAL Actor Language, a dataflow language used within MPEG Reconfigurable Video Coding group to describe MPEG video decoders* Client Access License, a proprietary software license distributed by software companies such as Microsoft to allow clients to connect to its server software...
, an adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
cement.
Gaspar Diaz M. and colleagues isolated four methoxyflavones
Flavones
Flavones , are a class of flavonoids based on the backbone of 2-phenylchromen-4-one shown on the right....
from F. maxima leaves. David Lentz and colleagues observed antimicrobial
Antimicrobial
An anti-microbial is a substance that kills or inhibits the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, or protozoans. Antimicrobial drugs either kill microbes or prevent the growth of microbes...
activity in Ficus maxima extracts.
External links
- Ficus maxima Mill. Trees, Shrubs, and Palms of Panama, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Center for Tropical Forest Science.