View source for Syconium

{{Short description|Type of fruit produced by plants of the genus Ficus}}
[[Image:Longitudinal section through a creeping fig syconium (Ficus pumila L.).jpg|thumb|right|Cross-section of the syconium of a female [[creeping fig]]. The [[Receptacle (botany)|receptacle]] forms a hollow chamber, its inner wall (white) covered by a shell of [[rufous]] [[floret]]s. Their long and curled, white [[Style (botany)|styles]] occupy the centre. Each floret will produce a fruit and seed. The green, bract-lined [[ostiole]], below, admits [[Fig wasp|wasp]] [[pollinator]]s.]]

'''Syconium''' ({{plural form}}: '''syconia''') is the type of fruit borne by figs (genus ''[[Ficus]]''), formed by an enlarged, fleshy, hollow [[Receptacle (botany)|receptacle]] with multiple [[Ovary (plants)|ovaries]] on the inside surface.{{R|ARMSTRONG|Merriam-Webster}} In essence, it is really a fleshy stem with a number of flowers, so it is considered both a [[Multiple fruit|multiple]] and [[Accessory fruit|accessory]] fruit.

==Etymology==
The term ''syconium'' comes from the [[Ancient Greek]] word '''{{lang|grc|σῦκον}}''' ''sykon'', meaning "fig".{{R|Merriam-Webster}}<ref>{{LSJ|su{{=}}kon|σῦκον|ref}}.</ref>

[[Image:Syconium ficus glomerata.JPG|left|thumb|Longitudinal section of ''[[Ficus glomerata]]'' syconium showing the fruit and fig wasps.]]

==Morphology==
The syconium is an urn-shaped receptacle which contains between 50 and 7000 (depending on the species) highly simplified uniovulate flowers or florets on its inner surface. It is closed off from most organisms by the [[ostiole]], fringed by scale-like [[bract]]s.

Syconia can be [[monoecious]] or functionally [[dioecious]]: the former contain female flowers with variable [[Style (flower)|style]] length and few male flowers, and produce seeds and pollen. The latter have male and female forms in different plants: seed figs contain female flowers with long styles and produce seeds; gall figs contain female flowers with short styles and male flowers and produce pollen.

Once pollinated by a [[fig wasp]], the individual florets inside the syconium develop into achenes or drupes, in which the seeds are enclosed by a layer of [[endocarp]]. From this perspective, the fig is an enclosure with tens to thousands of fruits within it.<ref>Galil, J. (1977). "Fig biology". ''Endeavour'' 1(2): 52–56.</ref>

==Development==
Formation of the syconium begins with the initial growth of bracts, which curve to form a receptacle. When the outer bracts meet, they form the ostiole by interlock. Syconia may also develop lateral, basal, or peduncular bracts. There is a relationship between the shape of the ostiole and the morphology of the pollinating wasp.<ref>Verkerke, W. (1989). "Structure and function of the fig". ''Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences'' 45(7): 612–622.</ref>

==Pollination==
The tight ostiolar enclosure at the syconium's apex makes it highly pollinator-specific. When receptive to pollen, the ostiole slightly loosens, allowing the highly specialized wasps to enter through it. The wasps lose their wings in the process, and once inside they pollinate female flowers as they lay their eggs in some ovules, which then form [[gall]]s. The wasps then die and larvae develop in the galls, while seeds develop in the pollinated flowers. 4–6 weeks after egg laying, the wingless males emerge, mate with the females still in their galls, and cut a tunnel out of the syconium. As the females emerge, they collect pollen from male flowers, which ripen later. After the wasps emerge, chemical changes in the fig follow as the fig develops into 'fruit'.<ref>Shanahan, M. et al. (2001). "Fig-eating by vertebrate frugivores: a global review". ''Biological Reviews'' 76(04): 529–572.</ref><ref>Harrison, R. D. (2005). "Figs and the Diversity of Tropical Rainforests". ''BioScience'' 55(12): 1053–1064.</ref>

==Evolution==
The syconium is thought to have first evolved 83 million years ago in the [[Cretaceous]]<ref>Datwyler, S. L. and G. D. Weiblen, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160910110946/http://www.amjbot.org/content/91/5/767.full "On the origin of the fig: phylogenetic relationships of Moraceae from ndhF sequences"]. ''American Journal of Botany'', 2004. 91(5): p. 767–777.</ref> within an [[Entomophily|entomophilic]] clade within  [[Moraceae]] that includes tribe [[Castilleae]] and genus ''Ficus'', as the bracts protecting the inflorescence tightened to form the [[ostiole]]. This greatly increased the pollinator specificity of the plant and initiated a long and complex history of [[coevolution]] between figs and their pollinating wasps ([[Agaonidae|agaonids]]).

==References==
{{commons category|Syconium}}
{{reflist|28em|refs=
<ref name="ARMSTRONG">{{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=W.P. |title=Multiple Fruits Of The Mulberry Family |url=http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm#figs |website=Wayne's World |access-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713114443/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm#figs |archive-date=13 July 2017 |date=2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Merriam-Webster">{{cite web |title=Synconium definition and meaning |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syconium |website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>
}}

{{fruits}}

[[Category:Fruit morphology]]
[[Category:Ficus| ]]