Ficus sycomorus

Not to be confused with Sycamore trees Platanus and Acer pseudoplatanus.

Ficus sycomorus
Leaves and syconia of Ficus sycomorus
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).; IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group (2019). "Ficus sycomorus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019 e.T146188430A146199148. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T146188430A146199148.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.</ref>
Scientific classification
:	[[Template:Taxonomy/Ficus subg. Sycomorus]]
Species:	Template:Taxonomy/Ficus (plant)F. sycomorus
Binomial name
Template:Taxonomy/Ficus (plant)Ficus sycomorus L.

Ficus sycomorus, called the sycamore fig or the fig-mulberry (because the leaves resemble those of the mulberry), sycamore, or sycomore, is a fig species that has been cultivated since ancient times.<ref name="Zohary"/>

Description

Ficus sycomorus grows to 20 metres (66 ft) tall and has a considerable spread, with a dense round crown of spreading branches. The bark is green-yellow to orange and exfoliates in papery strips to reveal the yellow inner bark. Like all other figs, it contains a latex. The leaves are heart-shaped with a round apex, 14 centimetres (5+1⁄2 in) long by 10&nbsp;cm wide, and arranged spirally around the twig. They are dark green above and lighter with prominent yellow veins below, and both surfaces are rough to the touch. The petiole is 0.5–3 cm (1⁄4–1+1⁄8 in) long and pubescent.

Flowering and fruiting occurs year-round, starting in April or later depending on variety, peaking from July to December. The fruit is a large edible fig, 2–3&nbsp;cm in diameter, ripening from buff-green to yellow or red. It is borne in thick clusters on long branchlets or the leaf axil. It is sometimes separated into five successive "crops".<ref name=":0" />

Etymology

The specific name came into English in the 14th century as sicamour, derived from Old French sagremore, sicamor. This in turn derives from Latin sycomorus, from Ancient Greek σῡκόμορος (Template:Translit) 'fig-mulberry'. The Greek name may be from the Greek tree-names Template:Translit 'fig' and Template:Translit 'mulberry', or it may derive from the Hebrew name for the mulberry, Template:Translit.<ref>"Sycamore (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 30 November 2024.</ref>

The name sycamore spelled with an A has also been used for unrelated trees: the great maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, or plane trees, Platanus. The spelling "sycomore", with an O rather than an A as the second vowel is, if used, specific to F.&nbsp;sycomorus.<ref>"sycomore". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 30 October 2016.</ref><ref>"sycamore". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 30 October 2016.</ref>

Distribution and habitat

Ficus sycomorus is native to Africa south of the Sahel and north of the Tropic of Capricorn, excluding the central-west rainforest areas. It grows naturally in Lebanon; in the southern Arabian Peninsula; in Cyprus; in very localised areas in Madagascar; and in Israel, Palestine and Egypt. In its native habitat, the tree is usually found in rich soils along rivers and in mixed woodlands.

Cultivation

Two major varieties are known in Egypt. Roumi (also called Falaki or Turki), which has more horizontally spread branches, stouter shoots and petioles, more densely spaced leaves that are wider than they are long, and larger, flatter, broad pink fruits; and Kelabi (also called Arabi or Beledi), which has more vertical branches, is more slender, has smaller leaves and has smaller yellowish pear shaped fruits.<ref name=":0">Brown, Thomas W.; Walsingham, F. G. (1917). "The Sycamore Fig In Egypt". Journal of Heredity. 8 (1): 3–12. doi:10.1093/jhered/8.1.3.</ref>

In modern history, many Egyptians would once a year (on the day of a particular saint) make a ring of bruises and cuts around the base of their sycamore trees.<ref name=":0"/>

According to botanists Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, cultivation of this species was "almost exclusively" by the ancient Egyptians.<ref name="Zohary" /> Remains of F. sycomorus begin to appear in predynastic times and occur in quantity from the start of the third millennium BC. It was the ancient Egyptian tree of life.<ref>Assmann, Jan; Lorton, David (2005). Death and salvation in ancient Egypt. translated by David Lorton. Cornell University Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-8014-4241-4.</ref> Zohary and Hopf note that "the fruit and the timber, and sometimes even the twigs, are richly represented in the tombs of the Egyptian Early, Middle and Late Kingdoms."<ref name="Zohary"/> In numerous cases the parched fruiting bodies, known as sycons, "bear characteristic gashing marks indicating that this art, which induces ripening, was practised in Egypt in ancient times."<ref name="Zohary">Zohary, Daniel; Hopf, Maria (2012). Domestication of plants in the Old World (fourth ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 130–131.</ref>

Although this species of fig requires the presence of the symbiotic wasp Ceratosolen arabicus to reproduce sexually, and this insect is extinct in Egypt, Zohay and Hopf have no doubt that Egypt was "the principal area of sycamore fig development."<ref name="Zohary"/> Some of the caskets of mummies in Egypt are made from the wood of this tree. In tropical areas where the wasp is common, complex mini-ecosystems involving the wasp, nematodes,<ref name="Susoy 2016">Susoy, Vladislav; Herrmann, Matthias; Kanzaki, Natsumi; Kruger, Meike; Nguyen, Chau N.; Rödelsperger, Christian; Röseler, Waltraud; Weiler, Christian; Giblin-Davis, Robin M.; Ragsdale, Erik J.; Sommer, Ralf J. (2016). "Large-scale diversification without genetic isolation in nematode symbionts of figs". Science Advances. 2 (1) e1501031. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E1031S. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501031. PMC 4730855. PMID 26824073.</ref><ref name="Kruger 2021">Kruger, Meike S.; Kanzaki, Natsumi; Giblin-Davis, Robin M.; Greeff, Jaco M. (10 August 2021). "Molecular diversity and relationships of fig associated nematodes from South Africa". PLOS ONE. 16 (8) e0255451. Bibcode:2021PLoSO..1655451K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0255451. PMC 8354458. PMID 34375357.</ref> other parasitic wasps, and various larger predators revolve around the life cycle of the fig. The trees' random production of fruit in such environments assures its constant attendance by the insects and animals which form this ecosystem.

Sycamores were often planted around artificial pools in ancient Egyptian gardens.<ref name=":2">Azzazy, Mohammed F.; Ezzat, Azza (2016), "The Sycamore in Ancient Egypt", Liber Amicorum–Speculum Siderum: Nūt Astrophoros Archaeopress Egyptology, Archaeopress, ISBN 978-1-78491-523-0.</ref>

The sycamore tree was brought to Israel by Philistines during the Iron Age, along with opium poppy and cumin.<ref>"Philistines introduced sycamore, cumin and opium poppy into Israel during the Iron Age". Science daily. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015..</ref><ref>Frumin, Suembikya; Maeir, Aren M.; Kolska Horwitz, Liora; Weiss, Ehud (25 August 2015), "Nature", Scientific Reports, 5 (1) 13308, doi:10.1038/srep13308, PMC 4642518, PMID 26304818.</ref> These sycamore trees used to be numerous in western Beirut, lending their name to the neighborhood of Gemmayzeh ((الْجُمَّيْزَة al-Ǧummayzah), "sycamore fig").<ref>"Gemmmayzeh name origins". 25 July 2019.</ref> However, the trees have largely disappeared from this area.<ref>Quilty, Jim; Diab, Leila (31 August 2005). "Gemmayzeh changing: new habits come to an old quarter". The Daily Star. Retrieved 16 November 2021. ... named after a sycamore tree that was once a landmark here.</ref>

Gardens

In the Near East F. sycomorus is an orchard and ornamental tree of great importance and extensive use. It has wide-spreading branches and affords shade.

In culture

Judaism and Christianity

The "Tree of the Virgin" in Egypt.

In the Hebrew Bible, the sycomore is mentioned seven times (; Strong's number 8256) and once in the New Testament ( or συκομορέα sykomorea;<ref>Template:LSJ.</ref> Strong's number 4809). It was a popular and valuable fruit tree in Jericho and Canaan.<ref name="moldenke 106 108">Moldenke, Harold N. (1952). Plants of the Bible. Waltham, Massachusetts USA: Chronica Botanica Company. pp. 106–108.</ref>

In El Matareya, there is a sycamore known as the Tree of the Virgin, which serves as a pilgrimage site. It is not the same tree; instead, when the previous tree that stands in this spot dies, a new one is planted from cuttings of the old tree.<ref>"The Virgin's Tree in Egypt: A Story of Survival". Photorientalist. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2024.</ref> It is said that the Holy Family took refuge in this tree.<ref>Sachs, Susan (26 December 2001). "Cairo Journal; A Tree Drooping With Its Ancient Burden of Faith". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 February 2024.</ref> The Coptic pope Theophilus also recounted that Joseph had a walking stick, which an infant Jesus broke. When Joseph buried the pieces of the stick, a sycamore grew forth and provided shelter.<ref>El-Aref, Nevine. "Virgin Mary Site Inaugurated".</ref>

Other religions

In Ancient Egypt, the sycamore was associated with the goddesses Hathor, Isis, and Nut. In the case of the latter, prayers exist referring to the "sycamore of Nut", and asking for water and breath. These goddesses were sometimes depicted as trees, sometimes standing in front of them with vessels of water, or sometimes as a tree with human body parts, such as an arm or breast. It was the most significant depicted life giving tree in ancient Egypt.<ref name=":1">R. Osborne, William. "The Tree of Life in Ancient Egypt and the Book of Proverbs". Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions.</ref> Sycamores are referenced in ancient Egyptian love poetry as a meeting place for lovers.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2"/> There are references to twin sycamores of turquoise in funerary contexts which Ra comes forth from, indicating they likely face east,<ref name=":1"/> or are located on the eastern horizon.<ref name=":2"/>

In modern Egyptian folklore, the sycamore retains an association with mysticism and magic. In the story "It Serves Me Right!", it is used to represent the Tree of Lifespans. The fruit from this tree dries up at the end of a life, but is fresh when one still has more life to live. Therefore, the inhabitants of a land found at the bottom of a well in the story only eat the dry, bad sycamore fruits and leave the good ones alone.<ref>El-Shamy, Hasan (1980). Folktales of Egypt. The University of Chicago Press. pp. 87–93. ISBN 0-226-20624-6.</ref>

In Kikuyu religion, the sycomore is a sacred tree. All sacrifices to Ngai (or Murungu), the supreme creator, were performed under the tree. The name of the Kikuyu tribe is derived from the name of the tree in Kikuyu (Mũkũyũ). Some of those ceremonies carried out under the tree are still observed.<ref>"Gikuyu Origins". Mukuyu. 13 November 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2015.</ref><ref>Mbiti, John (1990). African Religions and Philosophy. Oxford University Press.</ref>

Gallery

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200"> File:Ficus sycomorus - Leaves.jpg|Leaves File:Ficus sycomorus - Stem with fruits.jpg|Trunk with unripe fruit File:Sycamore fruits.jpg|Fruit File:Sycomore in Ethiopia.jpg|In Ethiopia </gallery>

See also

• Ficus vasta
• Sycamine

External links

• Figweb.org - Ficus sycomorus
• PBS Nature documentary: The Queen of Trees (on the sycamore fig in Kenya)
  • pbs.org: The Queen of Trees
  • pbs.org/wnet/nature: Sycamore fig in Kenya

• Ficus sycomorus in West African plants – A Photo Guide.