fig

Plants of the fig family may range in size from small shrubs to trees reaching 40 m/130 ft or more. They are found throughout the tropics. The edible fig originated in western Asia and has been cultivated for at least 6,000 years. It is now grown mainly in Italy, Turkey, Greece, and California. The fruit may be eaten fresh or preserved and dried. Figs are pollinated by parasitic wasps.

Plants of the fig family may range in size from small shrubs to trees reaching 40 m/130 ft or more. They are found throughout the tropics. The edible fig originated in West Asia and has been cultivated for at least 6,000 years. It is now grown mainly in Italy, Turkey, Greece, and California. The fruit may be eaten fresh or preserved and dried. Figs are pollinated by parasitic wasps.

Fig tree in Arusha National Part, Tanzania. Two olive trees, one either side of the path, have been enveloped by a ‘strangler’ fig (genus ficus), in a symbiotic relationship that will eventually kill the host trees.

Any of a group of trees belonging to the mulberry family, including the many cultivated varieties of F. carica, originally from western Asia. They produce two or three crops of fruit a year. Eaten fresh or dried, figs have a high sugar content and laxative properties. (Genus Ficus, family Moraceae.)

In the wild, F. carica is dependent on the fig wasp for pollination, and the wasp in turn is parasitic on the flowers. The tropical banyan (F. benghalensis) has less attractive edible fruit, and roots that grow down from its branches. The bo tree under which Buddha became enlightened is the Indian peepul or wild fig (F. religiosa).

Figs grow extensively in southern Europe. The only native US fig is the Florida strangler fig (F. aurea), which starts off as an epiphyte, growing around other trees before developing its own root system. They are made up of colonies of individual plants that merge into one.