''Ficus watkinsiana'', commonly known as
strangler fig, Watkins' fig, nipple fig or the green-leaved Moreton Bay fig is a
hemiepiphytic fig
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. The species exists in three populations—one in northeast
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
and the others in southeast Queensland and northeast
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
[
It also has been introduced to ]Kauai
Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest islan ...
island (Hawaiʻi
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
).[
On Kauai island, Port Jackson fig wasps (''Pleistodontes imperialis'') are able to do the job as substitute pollinators.]
Description
''Ficus watkinsiana'' is a monoecious
Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy.
Monoecy is ...
tree which grows up to tall. Its leaves are long and wide. Its figs (syconia
Syconium (plural ''syconia'') is the type of inflorescence borne by figs (genus ''Ficus''), formed by an enlarged, fleshy, hollow receptacle with multiple ovaries on the inside surface. In essence, it is really a fleshy stem with a number of flo ...
) are deep purple to black in colour, long and in diameter. It begins life as a hemiepiphyte.[ ''F. watkinsiana'' grows on another tree, using it as physical support, while also stealing sunlight, nutrients, space, etc. from it, which eventually kills the host plant. ''F. watkinsiana'' 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 meter of the rainforest.][Male, T. (2009). Host associations of the strangler fig ficus watkinsiana in a subtropical Queensland Rain Forest. Austral Ecology, 30(2), 229–236. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2005.01442.x] The bigger the tree, the more surface area it has, the more dispersal it will have. Some host trees have developed possible defense 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.
References
Rosales of Australia
Trees of Australia
Flora of Queensland
Flora of New South Wales
watkinsiana
Epiphytes
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