Figs' secret sexual lives... REVEALED (by Alan)

Alan, my fellow blogger, answers my question about figgie sex...

I wrote....

Figs. I didn't see the flowers, but it must have flowers, right? Figs rule.

Alan answered...

It did, but you wouldn't have been able to see them. Figs are a bit odd in their reproductive behavior in that their flowers are inside of the fruit. Fortunately the types of figs that we grow here in the Southeast do not need to have their flowers fertilized to set fruit.

There is a class of figs called "caprifigs" that do need to be fertilized for which there is a very special type of wasp that performs the pollen carrying function. Unfortunately the wasps don't survive here so caprifigs are largely confined to the Mediterranean-like climate areas of the world.

.....Alan.