Ficus palmeri

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Palomar College Arboretum Trees 1: More Fig Images
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Wild Figs (Higueras) in Baja California

Ficus palmeri

Ficus palmeri in Baja California. Left: Bahia Juncalito south of Loreto. Right: Sierra de la Laguna north of San Jose del Cabo. Note the numerous surface roots speading outwardly in all directions. This same root pattern can be seen in the large Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) near the San Diego Natural History Museum and in the Palomar College Arboretum.

  Moreton Bay Fig In Palomar College Arboretum  

Ficus palmeri in Baja California. Arroyo southwest of Loreto in foothills of Sierra de la Giganta. The gray trunk in left image appears to have melted and flowed down the steep rock face like an arboreal waterfall. Actually, adventitious (aerial) surface roots from the trunk grew down the canyon wall and fused together (anastomosed). The aerial roots of tropical banyans form pillar-like prop roots that support the massive, spreading limbs. In strangler figs of the rain forest the aerial roots wrap around host trees like botanical boa constrictors.

Left: Ficus palmeri along the shore of Bahia Juncalito south of Loreto. Right: F. palmeri in an Arroyo southwest of Loreto in the foothills of the Sierra de la Giganta. Many of the figs in this region appear to be the closely related F. brandegeei rather than F. palmeri.

Ficus palmeri: Young caudiciform plant and illustration of flowers inside monoecious syconium.

Ficus brandegeei

Ficus brandegeei in the Sierra de la Giganta, Baja California. The general growth habit of this endemic species is very similar to F. palmeri; however, its leaves, branchlets and syconia are glabrous. In F. palmeri, these structures are minutely pubescent (fuzzy).

Wild figs from Baja California: A. Glabrous syconia of Ficus brandegeei. B. Pubescent (fuzzy) syconia of F. palmeri.

This pictograph (petroglyph) on a verical wall in the Sierra de la Giganta superficially resembles the leaf of Ficus brandegeei that grow nearby. Its origin and meaning are unknown.

Baja California Figs: Continental Drift Or Oceanic Dispersal?

Ficus petiolaris

Ficus palmeri

Ficus palmeri
Two closely-related species of figs (Ficus) native to Mexico: Ficus petiolaris from the mainland (left) and F. palmeri endemic to the Baja California peninsula (right). Baja California began to separate from mainland Mexico about 8-10 million years ago. This isolation of the Baja Peninsula probably explains some of the differences between present-day F. palmeri and the similar mainland F. petiolaris. In this case, the genetic differences between the two species may correlate with continental drift. Another species in Baja California (F. brandegeei) is similar to F. palmeri but has glabrous foliage. There is considerable disagreement among authorities as to whether these three species of figs represent valid species or subspecies. According to E.M. Piedra-Malagón, V. Sosa, and G. Ibarra-Manríquez (Systematic Botany 36(1): 80-87, 2011), F. petiolaris, the first name in this complex, is the only species that should be recognized, with a wide distribution from Sonora to Oaxaxa and in Baja California.

Complete Index Of On-Line Fig Articles On Wayne's Word

  1. A Petrified Fig Syconium From The Cretaceous Period
  2. Bogus Nonpollinator Fig Wasps With Long Ovipositors
  3. Calimyrna Fig & Its Amazing Pollinator Wasp
  4. Calimyrna Fig Overwintering Mamme Crop
  5. Cauliflory In Tropical Species Of Figs (Ficus)
  6. Coevolution Of Fig & Fig Wasp: Vicarious Selection
  7. Evolution Of Dioecious Fig Species
  8. Ficus dammaropsis: A Remarkable Fig From New Guinea
  9. Fig Pith Sculpture: Microscopic Carvings From The Azores
  10. Figs Of The Holy Land (Their Role In World Religions)
  11. Gall Controversy: Do Fig Wasps Really Induce Gall Formation?     
  12. Hybrid Between Common Edible Fig & Creeping Fig
  13. Multiple Fruits Of The Mulberry Family (Moraceae)
  14. Pollination Patterns In Dioecious Figs
  15. Sex Determination & Life Cycle Of Common Fig (Ficus carica)
  16. Sexuality In Figs--Plant Sexuality & Political Correctness
  17. Strangler Figs & Banyans: Truly Remarkable Trees
  18. Summary Of Common Fig (Ficus carica) Life Cycle
  19. The Amazing Fig/Fig Wasp Relationship
  20. The Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila)--Source Of Grass Jelly
  21. Vicarious Selection In Figs (Richard Dawkin's Model)
  22. Wild Figs (Higueras) In Baja California & Gulf Islands
  23. Reference Articles Cited In The Above On-Line Pages