Summary
Fruit and leaf initiation by 26 trees representing five ‘strangler’Ficus species in the subgenusUrostigma were monitored for 5–8 years in a seasonal lowland forest of central Panamá. Individual trees of each species initiated fruit in synchronized ‘crops’. High variation in the number of crops, intervals between crops and dates of crop initiation indicate that these species, like species in the subgenusPharmacosycea, initiate fruit crops the year around. Nevertheless, mean crop initiation dates for four of five species fell within the four-month dry season. Similarly, all species produced new leaf flushes throughout the year, however, mean leaf flush dates of all species fell within the first three months of the dry season.
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Windsor, D.M., Morrison, D.W., Estribi, M.A. et al. Phenology of fruit and leaf production by ‘strangler’ figs on Barro Colorado Island, Panamá. Experientia 45, 647–653 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01975681
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01975681