Europe PMC · 2026-03-29
A study of 32 fig species found that a fig's family tree — not its pollinator wasp — determines what scents its flowers produce. This suggests that the biochemical machinery for making floral perfumes is inherited and evolutionarily constrained, not freely shaped by which pollinator the plant is trying to attract.
Floral volatile profiles from 32 Ficus species showed a strong phylogenetic signal, meaning scent composition tracks the fig family tree more than ecological factors.
No relationship was found between a fig's scent profile and the evolutionary history of its pollinating wasp, overturning a simple pollinator-drives-scent model.
Results suggest the biosynthetic (biochemical manufacturing) pathways that produce volatile compounds are evolutionarily constrained, limiting how freely scent can evolve even under strong pollinator pressure.
