The dinner-plate fig belongs to a genus of over 600 species of mainly evergreen trees of varied habitat in tropical and subtropical parts of both hemispheres, and occasionally in warm temperate areas. Flowers are produced on the inner surfaces of a green, pear-shaped receptacle with a small opening at the top. Gall wasps gain entry through this opening to lay their eggs. After hatching and mating in the receptacle, the young wasps, covered in pollen from the flowers, emerge and fly off to other fig trees of the same species. There they lay their eggs, and in the process, fertilize other flowers. Each species of fig has its own special gall wasp.

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