David Mackay, Botanical Artist

 

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Cluster Fig Tree

Ficus racemosa, Cluster Fig’.

Original painting: Acrylic on paper.

Print: Giclée print on paper, available in two editions: 400 x 295mm and 825 x 585mm. Each edition is limited to 250 prints.

Print price: Smaller print: AUD$140 plus postage*.Larger print: AUD$320 plus postage*.

Figs have featured prominently in art for thousands of years, often as a symbol of hidden sexuality or of modesty. The use of fig leaves is apt, of course, as the distinguishing feature of figs is that they hide their sexual organs – their flowers – inside the fig, rather than flamboyantly displaying them as do so many other plants.

Each species of fig has its own unique species of wasp that pollinates it. The wasp that pollinates Ficus racemosa is Ceratosolen fusciceps. The male wasp, as shown in this painting, is a blind and wingless creature that lives its whole life (of perhaps a few days) within the dark confines of the fig in which it is born. The female wasp burrows out of the fig and flies off in search of another fig in which to lay her eggs, pollinating the fig as she does so. Once the wasp has done its work, the fig is done with hiding and the rich, red colour of the ripe fruit (in this species, at least) signals its attractive readiness for consumption so that marauders may spread the fig’s seed over the land.

 

 

 

This is a sample of the detail in this picture.