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Figs (Ficus) are a genus of about 800 species of woody trees,
shrubs and vines in the family Moraceae, native throughout the
tropics with a few species extending into the warm temperate zone.
The genus includes one species, the Common Fig F. carica, that
produces a commercial fruit called a fig; the fruit of many other
species are edible though not widely consumed. Other examples
of figs include the Banyan and the Peepul (or Bo) tree. Most species
are evergreen, while those from temperate areas, and areas with
a long dry season, are deciduous. A fig fruit is derived from
a specially adapted flower. The fruit has a bulbous shape (an
accessory fruit called a syconium) with a small opening (the ostiole)
in the end and a hollow area inside lined with small red edible
seeds. The fruit/flower is pollinated by small wasps that crawl
through the opening to fertilise the fruit.
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The Common Fig
Ficus carica, a native of southwest Asia (Turkey east to Afghanistan),
is cultivated for its fruit. In the United States, figs are grown
in California, Texas, Utah, Oregon, and Washington. Figs can be
eaten fresh or dried, and used in jam-making. Figs come in two
sexes: hermaphrodite (called caprifigs because only goats eat
them) and female. Fig wasps grow in caprifigs; when they mature,
they mate, and the females leave in search of immature figs to
lay their eggs in. When the wasp finds one, she pollinates the
female flowers but will not lay eggs in the edible fig, only in
the caprifig. Thus the edible fig ripens without any wasp frass
in it.
Above Images Are From The U.S.D.A.
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