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Syconium (pl.:syconia) is the type of fruit borne by figs (genusFicus), formed by an enlarged, fleshy, hollowreceptacle with multipleovaries on the inside surface.[1][2] In essence, it is really a fleshy stem with a number of flowers, so it is considered both amultiple andaccessory fruit.
The termsyconium comes from theAncient Greek wordσῦκονsykon, meaning "fig".[2][3]
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 theostiole, fringed by scale-likebracts.
Syconia can bemonoecious or functionallydioecious: the former contain female flowers with variablestyle 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 afig wasp, the individual florets inside the syconium develop into achenes or drupes, in which the seeds are enclosed by a layer ofendocarp. From this perspective, the fig is an enclosure with tens to thousands of fruits within it.[4]
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.[5]
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 formgalls. 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'.[6][7]
The syconium is thought to have first evolved 83 million years ago in theCretaceous[8] within anentomophilic clade withinMoraceae that includes tribeCastilleae and genusFicus, as the bracts protecting the inflorescence tightened to form theostiole. This greatly increased the pollinator specificity of the plant and initiated a long and complex history ofcoevolution between figs and their pollinating wasps (agaonids).
