Part 1      Part 2      Cystoliths      Pollinators 1       Pollinators 2       Pollinators 3       Pollinators 4       Pollinators 5   © W.P. Armstrong Updated 5 January 2026 Growing Seed From Vista Caprifig Mammoni Syconium Note: Some Of This Information & Photos Transferred From Part 1 Ths is the continuing story of a so-called "male" caprifig that is technically bisexual because it produces pollen, sperm & eggs. Seedling From Self-Pollinated Endocarp   (From 'Vista Caprifig' Mammoni Syconium)   Ficus cf. pseudocarica from Vista, CA = 'Vista Caprifig' Note: The seedling caprifig that I transplanted from a roadside creek in Vista, California is a noteworthy hybrid. In my opinion, it is different from typical F. carica, and keys out fairly close to F. pseudocarica in Condit's classic books The Fig (1947) and Ficus: The Exotic Species (1969). It also appears slightly different from original F. pseudocarica discussed in the literature. In World Flora Online (WFO), F. pseudocarica is listed as a synonym of F. palmata ssp. virgata (Roxb.) Browicz. I have propagated clonal cuttings to several fig growers in California and the campus of Palomar College. Considering the complexity of this controversial taxonomy, I have decided to refer to this clone as 'Vista Caprifig' throughout the text on my fig pages.

Note: When mammoni syconia have been pollinated by fig wasps from profichi crop, the drupelet may contain a seed if the wasp did not oviposit inside the ovary of drupelet. As stated above, drupelets are the individual fruits (ripened ovaries) within the syconium. They resemble miniature drupes surrounded by an ovary wall (pericarp) with a sclerified endocarp layer. The seed coat develops from the outer layer (integuments) of ovule within the ovary. In drupelets containing a seed, the seed coat and endocarp layers are close together. If seed-bearing endocarps sink in water they are probably viable. I have extracted up to 10 presumably viable endocarps from one syconium (see right panel of following image). For more details see I.J. Condit "The Structure and Development of Flowers in Ficus carica L." (Hilgardia, 1932).

Since figs are protogynous, with female flowers receptive before male flowers shed pollen, cross pollination between different plants is generally favored. This is especially true in dioecious (gynodioecious) figs, such as Ficus carica with male (caprifig) and female trees. Seed production in caprifig mammoni syconia results from self pollination (selfing) if both gametes came from same caprifig parent and are genetically identical. Protogyny is probably not a issue because the gametes come from different syconia at different times on caprifig branches (profichi & mammoni). This may be an example of "geitonogamy" [guy-ton-OG-uh-mee], self pollination between different flowers on the same plant with genetically identical gametes. Self pollination within the same flower is autogamy and the genetic result is the same as geitonogamy. Plants have evolved many adaptations to avoid the deleterious effects of inbreeding, known as inbreeding depression.

According to Hossaert-McKey & Bronstein (American Journal of Botany Vol. 88, 2001), selfing occurs in the tropical, monoecious fig Ficus aurea without negative effects of inbreeding. In fact, no negative effects of selfing could be demonstrated on syconium retention, number of vacant ovaries, seed set, or seed germination; however, wasp production had a tendency to be higher after self-pollination. Dioecy (populations with separate male & female individuals) favors cross pollination and is considered evolutionarily advanced in figs compared with ancestral monoecious species.

Lateral illustration of spherical cystolith in above leaf image. Calcareous lithocyst is suspended by central stalk within outer cell called a lithocyst.   More Images & Information About Ficus Cystoliths

Seed-bearing endocarps from 'Vista Caprifig' mammoni syconia were also collected & germinated in fall 2023. Compared with seed-bearing endocarps from cross pollinated female trees there was a low ratio of seedling survival from self-pollinated mammoni syconia. Walter Swingle (Science, 1899) also extracted a low ratio of viable seeds from caprifig mammoni syconia over a century ago.

Other researchers have also extracted viable seeds from caprifig mammoni syconia and successfully germinated them. According to G.P. Rixford (U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 732, 1918), 75 fertile seeds were contained in a single mammoni syconium. On page 53 of The Fig (1947), Condit reported self-pollinated mammoni figs with profichi pollen from the same tree: "Of 89 seedlings grown from such seeds, 62 bore caprifigs and 27 bore edible figs." These and other self-pollination studies have shown that maleness is dominant in caprifigs.

According to Storey (Advances in Fruit Breeding, 1975), all commercial caprifigs probably originated from common edible fig seeds from homozygous female (ga/ga) trees and, therefore, are heterozygous (GA/ga). According to Condit (1920), cuttings of Smyrna figs and caprifigs were introduced into California in 1882. The fruit from these trees all dropped because of the lack of caprification. In 1890 caprifig cuttings with wasp-bearing syconia were also introduced. It is impossible to be certain if any of these caprifigs were homozygous. Naturalized female trees that have been pollinated develop syconia that are conspicuously pinkish-red inside, with numerous drupelets (endocarps) containing viable seeds.

Sex determination in the common fig (Ficus carica) may be controlled by two pairs of alleles located on one pair of homologous chromosomes. Data from breeding experiments support this hypothesis. [From Storey, W.B. 1975. Figs (pp. 568-589). In: Advances in Fruit Breeding, Purdue University Press, West Lafayette, Indiana.]. Functional males are heterogametic for sex determination was corrobarated by T.L. Parish, H.O. Koelewijn, and P.J. van Dijk in 2004 (Sexual Plant Reproduction 17: 17-22). They studied DNA fragments (Amplified Restriction Length Polymorphisms or AFLPs) in the gynodioecious species Ficus fulva. The alleles for short-style female flowers and production of male flowers (GA) are dominant over the recessive alleles (ga) for long-style female flowers and suppression of male flowers. Since seeds from the mammoni crop result from self pollination, the offspring of heterozgous caprifig (GA/ga) would have a 3:1 Mendelian ratio for caprifigs compared with female trees. Although a homozygous (GA/GA) caprifig is apparently rare, all the offspring from self pollination would carry the dominant caprifig gene (GA).

It is interesting to note that Dr. Storey's original discovery that sex determination in Ficus carica is under the control of a single autosomal locus, and that functional males are heterogametic for sex determination was corrobarated by T.L. Parish, H.O. Koelewijn, and P.J. van Dijk in 2004 (Sexual Plant Reproduction 17: 17-22). They studied DNA fragments (Amplified Restriction Length Polymorphisms or AFLPs) in the gynodioecious species Ficus fulva.