The fig fruit develops from the syconium, a hollow, fleshy structure lined with numerous unisexual flowers. The syconium is an urn-shaped receptacle that holds between 50 and 7000 flowers on its inner surface, depending on the species. Botanically the syconium is an infructescence, containing multiple fruits. Its opening at the apex, the ostiole, is fringed by scale-like bracts. Syconia can be monoecious or functionally dioecious. Once pollinated, the florets inside develop into achenes or drupes, in which the seeds are enclosed by a layer of endocarp.
Pollination
The tight ostiolar enclosure at the syconium's apex makes it highly pollinator-specific. The pollinator wasp of F. carica is Blastophaga psenes. When the syconium is receptive to pollen, the ostiole loosens slightly and lets the specialised wasps in. The wasps lose their wings on the way in and pollinate the female flowers as they lay eggs in some ovules, which then form galls. The female wasp dies after laying her eggs and pollinating. Four to six weeks after the eggs are laid, the wingless males emerge, mate with the females still in their galls, and cut a tunnel out of the syconium. The syconium is thought to have first evolved 83 million years ago, in the Cretaceous.
The fig leaf
The leaves of Ficus carica are fragrant. The essential oil of fig leaves contains more than 10% psoralen. Psoralen and bergapten are found in the milky sap of the leaves and shoots, but not in the fruits. Psoralen has the formula C₁₁H₆O₃. Contact with the milky sap followed by exposure to ultraviolet light can cause phytophotodermatitis, a skin inflammation.
The fig tree
Ficus carica is a tree or shrub native to the Mediterranean region and to western and southern Asia. The edible fig is probably the first plant to have been cultivated by humans. Ficus carica is the type species of the genus Ficus. The genus Ficus holds about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes. The word fig comes from Old French figue, which goes back to the Latin ficus.
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