Figs of Southern and South-Central Africa – Burrows, J.; Burrows, S.

Description

Fig trees (Ficus spp., Moraceae) are a diverse and ecologically significant component of the African flora ( Berg and Wiebes, 1992;Burrows and Burrows, 2003). Most species exhibit a monoecious breeding system and they typically have wide distributions across the continent ( Berg and Wiebes, 1992). …
… Most species exhibit a monoecious breeding system and they typically have wide distributions across the continent ( Berg and Wiebes, 1992). The Ficus species present in South African forests vary in the extent to which they are restricted to this habitat and in their overall area of distribution ( Burrows and Burrows, 2003). They are pollinated by small (1-2 mm; Renoult et al., 2009) host specific fig wasps (Agaonidae). …
… Ficus bizanae and F. craterostoma belong to section Galoglychia while F. sur belongs to section Sycomorus ( Burrows and Burrows, 2003). These three Ficus species have different life forms, and they vary in their habitat preferences (Table 1, Fig. 1). …
The genetic consequences of habitat specificity for fig trees in southern African fragmented forests
Article
Dec 2019ACTA OECOL
Junyin Deng
Stephen G. Compton
Simon van Noort
Jaco Greeff
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… Ficus natalensis has a more coastal distribution than F. burkei [33]. In southeast Africa, they form a monophyletic species group with Ficus craterostoma, F. petersii and Ficus lingua [32] and subsection Chlamydodorae is further represented by Ficus burtt-davyi, Ficus fisheri and Ficus ilicina [34]. The two Ficus species studied here are morphologically well-defined and are easily identified [33]. …
… They do not seem to form distinct monophyletic groups [21]. In the original descriptions, the length-width ratio of the head is different [34,41], suggesting that they are adapted to different fig ostiole shapes. Indeed, head shape, among other diagnostic differences, was shown to be a function of ostiole length as determined by fig wall thickness for wasps associated with section Galoglychia [42]. …
… Geography rather than fig-host determined which clade was present in a location. A similar situation may be occurring in west Africa within the same Ficus species complex, but molecular data are lacking [10,34]. It may be noted for clade B that F. n. natalensis and F. n. graniticola are allopatric, and that they occupy different habitats from F. burkei [35]. …
Floral volatiles, pollinator sharing and diversification in the fig-wasp mutualism: Insights from Ficus natalensis, and its two wasp pollinators (South Africa)
Article
Full-text available
Nov 2011Proc Biol Sci
Amandine CornilleJenny G Underhill
Astrid Cruaud
Magali Proffit
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… Section Galoglychia is restricted to the Afrotropical region (Africa south of the Sahara, southern Arabian peninsula and including the Mascarene Islands and Madagascar). The 77 described Galoglychia species are divided into six subsections (Berg 1986;Berg & Wiebes 1992;Burrows & Burrows 2003). Whereas most other fig sections are only pollinated by a single wasp genus, section Galoglychia is pollinated by seven fig wasp genera: Alfonsiella, Elisabethiella , Nigeriella , Courtella , Agaon , Allotriozoon , and Paragaon . …