Ficus watkinsiana

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Rosids  > Moraceae > Ficus watkinsiana

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Strangler Fig

• Also, Watkins' fig, nipple fig or the green-leaved Moreton Bay fig

Conservation status:  . . .

Etymology:   

Flowers:                  

Fruit:                         

• Its figs (syconia) are deep purple to black in colour, 24–37 mm long and 18–29 mm in diameter

Leaves:         

• Its leaves are 51–217 mm long and 26–97 mm wide

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A monoecious tree which grows up to 50 m tall

• It is a hemi-epiphytic fig tree

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to Australia

• The species exists in three populations—one in northeast Queensland and the others in southeast Queensland and northeast NSW

• It also has been introduced to Kauai island (Hawaiʻi)

Additional notes:     

• Pollination

  • The pollinator of this species in Australia is Pleistodontes nigriventris (Girault)

  • On Kauai island, Port Jackson fig wasps (Pleistodontes imperialis) are able to do the job as substitute pollinators.

  • The wasps and the strangler figs have a mutualistic symbiotic relationship

  • The wasp, P. imperialis, uses the tree to lay eggs into its ostioles, while the tree uses the wasp for pollination

  • The arrangement of the inner ostioles show convergent evolution in attraction of the wasps

  • Other species of the strangler fig species have homoplasy of the ostioles, so the wasp is strongly influenced by this genus of plants, and therefore enhances their growth

• Ecology

  • It begins life as a hemiepiphyte

  • It grows on another tree, using it as physical support, while also stealing sunlight, nutrients, space, etc. from it, which eventually kills the host plant

  • It produces a large amount of fruit, which feeds a variety of mammals

  • Those mammals eat their seeds, defecating them throughout the rainforests so that Ficus watkinsiana has a high rate of dispersal, covering almost every square metre of the rainforest

  • The bigger the tree, the more surface area it has, the more dispersal it will have

  • Some host trees have developed possible defence mechanisms against the strangler figs

  • One mechanism may be lacking deep branches and hollows, and having smooth bark so there's no place for the seeds to become lodged and grow

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_watkinsiana (2023)