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Ficus carica
Also called Edible fig, Common Fig, Fig Tree, Cultivated Fig, Garden Fig
The common fig is a deciduous tree or large shrub grown for its sweet edible fruit, native to the Mediterranean and western Asia. It needs full sun, well-drained soil and a warm, dry climate to fruit well.
The fig is the edible fruit of Ficus carica (the common fig), a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and to western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world. Ficus carica is the type species of the genus Ficus, which comprises over 800 tropical and subtropical plant species.
The fig plant is a deciduous tree or large shrub, growing up to 7–10 m (23–33 ft) tall, with smooth white bark. Its large leaves have three to five deep lobes. Its fruit (a syconium) is teardrop-shaped, 3–5 cm (1–2 in) long, initially green but may ripen toward purple or brown, and has sweet soft reddish flesh containing numerous small seeds. In the Northern Hemisphere, fresh figs are in season from early August to early October.
Like other plant species in the family Moraceae, contact with the milky sap of F. carica followed by exposure to ultraviolet light can cause phytophotodermatitis, a potentially serious skin inflammation. Although the plant is not poisonous per se, F. carica is listed in the US Food and Drug Administration's database of poisonous plants.
Furanocoumarins cause phytophotodermatitis in humans. The common fig contains significant quantities of two furanocoumarins, psoralen and bergapten. The essential oil of fig leaves contains more than 10% psoralen, the highest concentration of any organic compound isolated from fig leaves. Psoralen and bergapten are found in the milky sap of the leaves and shoots of F. carica but not the fruits. Neither psoralen nor bergapten was detected in the essential oil of fig fruits.
The fig has been cultivated since ancient times and grows wild in dry and sunny locations with deep and fresh soil, and in rocky locations that are at sea level to 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in elevation. It prefers relatively porous and freely draining soil, and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Unlike other fig species, F. carica does not always require pollination by a wasp or from another tree, but can be pollinated by the fig wasp, Blastophaga psenes, to produce seeds. Fig wasps are not present to pollinate in colder regions such as the British Isles.
Ficus annulata · Mosaic Fig · Ficus atricha · Florida strangler fig · Roxburgh fig · Indian banyan · Weeping fig · Longleaf Fig · Ficus brachypoda · Ficus caulocarpa · Ficus celebensis · Creek Sandpaper Fig
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Fig by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
