벤자민(고무나무) 열매

 

광릉수목원에서 벤자민의 열매(꽃)을  보았다. 벤자민도 이와 같이 열매(꽃)을 볼 수 있다는 것을   이제서야 알게되었다.

학명: Ficus benjamina L.

분류: 뽕나무과(Moraceae)

영명: Weeping Fig, Benjamin's Fig

원산지:  south and southeast Asia and Australia

 

열매는 익으면 자주색, 붉은색, 또는 노란색이 된다. 독성이 있어 먹지 않으나 어/던 비둘기 종류들은 이 열매를 먹기도 한다.  

 

참고 사이트: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2470/               

http://www.cyworld.com/jbler/4517166

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

무화과 종유들의 수분

무화과 종류들은 은두화로 꽃을 바깥에서 볼 수 없다. 수분과정은 무화과 열매와 공생하는 벌에 의해 이루어지는데 열매 끝의 아주 작은 틈으로 벌이 비비고 들어가 수분을 시키고  알을 낳는다. 알에서 부화한 어린 벌은 열매가 성장하는 동안  열매 안에서 생활하나 열매가 익을 무렵에는 밖으로 나온다. 왜냐하면 익은 열매에서는 벌과 벌의 알을 녹여버리는 효소가 나오기 때문이다.   

 

원문 

Have you heard the urban legend that the little crunchy seeds in figs are really wasp eggs? Well, there might be something to that rumor. Most figs wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for special wasp partners that have been co-evolving with fig trees for sixty million years. Figs have a mutual relationship with a family of tiny wasps called agaonid wasps. Also known as fig wasps, they develop and spend most of their lives inside figs. Figs can develop fruit only with the help of the wasps. Botanically, a fig isn’t really a fruit, but is a cluster of flowers. The smooth exterior of a fig encloses hundreds of tiny flowers lining a central cavity. Because of their unusual anatomy, fig flowers can only be accessed and pollinated through a very tiny opening at one end of the fig. The female wasp squeezes into the opening, and lays her eggs inside the fig. As she moves around she distributes pollen, fertilizing the flowers. Figs will only ripen and produce seeds if pollinated.

However, the crunchy things in figs really are just seeds. The young wasps develop inside the fig as it ripens then hatch and mate all within the fruit. The young females then exit the fig before it is completely ripe. However, there aren’t wasp eggs or remnants in ripe figs, because figs produce a protein-digesting enzyme that digests any wasps or eggs left inside. By the time we eat a fig, the wasps have done their work and flown away or were digested by the developing fig.

 

출처: http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/figs-and-agaonid-wasps/

 

무화과의 모습과 무화과 말벌(fig wasp)

 

 

(사진 출처: 바로 위에 인용된 사이트)

 

 

(사진 출처: http://en.wikipedia.org)