# Fig
The fig is the edible fruit of *Ficus carica*, a deciduous tree in the mulberry family (Moraceae) cultivated since antiquity around the Mediterranean and now grown in warm temperate and subtropical regions worldwide. What is eaten as a "fruit" is botanically a syconium, a hollow receptacle lined with hundreds of tiny inward-facing flowers, and many fig varieties set ripe fruit without any pollination at all, a trait called parthenocarpy.[1](https://extension.psu.edu/figs-in-the-home-garden) • [2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Botanical structure | The "fruit" is a syconium, a hollow receptacle containing a tiny cluster of in-growing flowers (inflorescence)[1](https://extension.psu.edu/figs-in-the-home-garden) |
| Four horticultural types | Caprifig, Smyrna, San Pedro, and Common; common types are parthenocarpic and set fruit without pollination, as does the breba crop of San Pedro types, while San Pedro's main crop requires pollination[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214) |
| Pollinator | Smyrna and San Pedro types require the fig wasp *Blastophaga psenes*, absent in Florida, so those types will not bear fruit there[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214) |
| World production | FAO (2005) estimated harvest from 427,000 hectares, over 1 million metric tonnes yearly, with Turkey alone producing nearly 25%[4](https://www.figdatabase.com/uploads/The%20Fig%20Botany%2C%20Horticulture%2Cand%20Breeding.pdf) |
| Chilling requirement | The edible fig is deciduous and requires about 100 hours of chilling temperatures to grow and set fruit[2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/) |
| Cold tolerance | Fig trees tolerate temperatures down to 18 degrees Fahrenheit; freeze-damaged trees regrow in bush form[2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/) |
| Crops | A first crop (breba) on old wood produces larger but fewer and less tasty figs; the main crop forms in leaf axils and ripens between July and October[1](https://extension.psu.edu/figs-in-the-home-garden) • [2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/) |
## The syconium and the fig wasp
All figs in the genus *Ficus*, which includes about 850 species, share a unique reproductive system: an urn-shaped inflorescence in which tiny flowers develop inside the developing fruit, accessible to the fig wasp through a small hole at the apex called the ostiole.[5](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ficus/common-name/fig/) The syconium is closed off by an involucre of bracts, and female pollinator wasps entering through the tight-fitting ostiole often lose wings and antennae and can visit only a single syconium, within which they usually die.[6](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.685542/full) Syconia range from a few millimeters in diameter to 21 × 18 cm in *Ficus dammaropsis*, and contain from tens of flowers (50 in *Ficus mathewsii*) to thousands (7,000 in *Ficus pumila*).[6](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.685542/full)
The fig-fig wasp relationship is a brood-site pollination mutualism: the wasp pollinates the flowers and the fig provides a site for wasp larvae to develop. Molecular data indicate the pollination syndrome evolved only once, and the mutualism has been dated at 75+ million years ago, though a more recent estimate of 41-56 million years matches the 49-million-year age of fossil fig wasps.[6](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.685542/full) • [7](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1131861/) Fig species are either monoecious (52% of species), with male and female flowers in the same syconium, or gynodioecious (48%), with female trees bearing only seed-producing syconia and "male" trees bearing only wasp-producing ones.[6](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.685542/full)
**Do eaten figs contain wasps?** Most supermarket figs do not. Humans eat *Ficus carica*, several cultivars of which are parthenocarpic and ripen without pollination, so no wasp is involved; Mission and Brown Turkey are two commonly sold cultivars of this kind. Smyrna figs, Calimyrna figs, and wild Mediterranean figs do rely on wasps, and in those cases a wasp may have entered and died, but its remains are generally squished and decomposed by the time the fig matures, and any crunchy texture comes from seeds.[8](https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/plants/do-figs-really-have-dead-wasps-in-them)
## The four horticultural types
Cultivated edible figs are classified into four types according to their pollination requirements.[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214)
- **Caprifigs** produce staminate (male) flowers and are useful only as a source of pollen; their fruit is small, dry, and nonedible.[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214) • [9](https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-san-luis-obispo-county/figs)
- **Smyrna** types bear only pistillate (female) flowers and require a caprifig for pollination to develop normally.[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214) • [10](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/common-fig)
- **San Pedro** types are intermediate: their first crop, borne on leafless wood, needs no pollination, while the second crop, borne on new wood, requires it.[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214)
- **Common** types are parthenocarpic, meaning the fruit develop without pollination or fertilization, and this is the type recommended for home growing in Florida and other regions without the wasp.[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214) • [2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/)
Because Smyrna types need the wasp pollinizer *Blastophaga psenes*, they will not bear fruit in Florida, where the wasp is absent, whereas San Pedro types can produce a breba crop without pollination, though only their main crop requires the wasp. In the common type, breeders favor a closed ostiole to keep out insects and rain water, reducing rot inside the fruit.[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214)
## Cultivation
The common fig is a deciduous plant needing about 100 hours of chilling temperatures to grow and set fruit, and it tolerates temperatures down to 18 degrees [Fahrenheit](https://www.edgepedia.org/fahrenheit), regrowing in bush form after freeze damage.[2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/) Trees fruit on terminals of wood from the previous year, so pruning is limited to size control and done after fruit ripens in early summer; heavy winter pruning can eliminate the next year's crop.[2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/) Figs need full sun, plenty of water during the fruiting season, and soil that is not excessively wet; mulch helps retain moisture and deters root-knot nematodes, a major threat to fig production in Florida, while fig rust can also be a problem.[2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/) Fig trees are not grafted onto rootstock and are planted at the same depth as in the container.[9](https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-san-luis-obispo-county/figs)
**Cultivars.** Hundreds of varieties exist, with skin colors including black, purple, pink, yellow, green, and yellow/green.[9](https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-san-luis-obispo-county/figs) • [3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214) Selection criteria include cold hardiness, the ability to set fruit without pollination, a closed ostiole, a long peduncle that lets fruit droop and shed moisture, and green skin to minimize bird herbivory.[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214) Recommended cultivars for Florida include 'Celeste', 'Brown Turkey', and 'Ischia'[2](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/), along with 'Alma', which produces high yields and medium-sized brown-skinned fruit with light tan pulp[3](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214), and 'LSU Purple', a [Louisiana State University](https://www.edgepedia.org/louisiana-state-university) cultivar with medium-small glossy purple fruit, amber-to-pink flesh, and a closed eye.[11](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/charlotteco/2026/07/31/figuring-out-figs/) In California, Calimyrna, Mission, and Sierra are dual-purpose figs that dry well, and the Kadota can be dried, canned, or sold fresh.[12](https://ucanr.edu/node/153884/printable/print)
## Production and use
Ripe figs do not transport well, so most commercial production is as dried or otherwise processed fruit.[4](https://www.figdatabase.com/uploads/The%20Fig%20Botany%2C%20Horticulture%2Cand%20Breeding.pdf) FAO (2005) figures put world harvest at over 1 million metric tonnes from 427,000 hectares, with Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Greece, Algeria, Morocco, the United States, Syria, and Spain together producing 70% of the crop and Turkey alone nearly 25%.[4](https://www.figdatabase.com/uploads/The%20Fig%20Botany%2C%20Horticulture%2Cand%20Breeding.pdf) The fruit is eaten fresh, dried, in confectionery, or brewed as an alcoholic beverage.[13](https://ecocrop.apps.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=1071) Fresh figs contain vitamin C, which is lost when the fig is dried.[14](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/71434/1/2015_Book_SustainableHorticultureInSemia.pdf)
## Domestication history
The fig has long been associated with horticulture in the Mediterranean region and is considered to have first been brought into cultivation in southern Arabia.[15](https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=198476) A strong case has been made for fig domestication in Israel 12,000-11,000 years before present through vegetative reproduction, preceding the domestication of large-grain grasses in southwest Asia.[16](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0106595) Olive, grape, date, and fig can all be vegetatively propagated by simple techniques such as cuttings and suckers, which preadapted them for early domestication.[17](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17814259/) [Cuneiform](https://www.edgepedia.org/cuneiform) sources record cultivation of presumably common figs in [Mesopotamia](https://www.edgepedia.org/mesopotamia) from a date similar to their depiction in Egyptian art from at least the Old Kingdom, around 2500 BC.[18](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6499764/) The great number of fig varieties, about 1,000 listed, evolved mainly as natural seedlings during the many centuries of cultivation.[14](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/71434/1/2015_Book_SustainableHorticultureInSemia.pdf) • [19](https://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk12441/files/391-296.pdf)
## References
1. [Figs in the Home Garden, Penn State Extension](https://extension.psu.edu/figs-in-the-home-garden)
2. [Figs – Gardening Solutions, UF/IFAS](https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/fruits/figs/)
3. [HS27/MG214: The Fig, UF/IFAS Extension](https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG214)
4. [The Fig: Botany, Horticulture, and Breeding](https://www.figdatabase.com/uploads/The%20Fig%20Botany%2C%20Horticulture%2Cand%20Breeding.pdf)
5. [Fig – Ficus, North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ficus/common-name/fig/)
6. [Interactions Between Figs and Gall-Inducing Fig Wasps, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2021)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.685542/full)
7. [Critical review of host specificity in the fig/fig-wasp mutualism, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1131861/)
8. [Do figs really have dead wasps in them? Live Science](https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/plants/do-figs-really-have-dead-wasps-in-them)
9. [Figs, UC Master Gardeners of San Luis Obispo County](https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-san-luis-obispo-county/figs)
10. [Common Fig – an overview, ScienceDirect Topics](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/common-fig)
11. [Figuring out figs, UF/IFAS Extension Charlotte County](https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/charlotteco/2026/07/31/figuring-out-figs/)
12. [A Comparison of the New "Sequoia" Fig Cultivar, UC ANR](https://ucanr.edu/node/153884/printable/print)
13. [Ecocrop crop view: Common fig, FAO](https://ecocrop.apps.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=1071)
14. [Sustainable Horticulture in Semi-arid Regions, varieties chapter](https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/71434/1/2015_Book_SustainableHorticultureInSemia.pdf)
15. [USDA ARS publication on fig](https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=198476)
16. [Archaeological Evidence for Peach Cultivation and Domestication in China, PLOS One](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0106595)
17. [Beginnings of fruit growing in the Old World, PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17814259/)
18. [Between domestication and civilization, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (2019)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6499764/)
19. [Fig Varieties: A Monograph, UC Davis](https://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk12441/files/391-296.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Plants and algae › Seed plants › Other flowering plants › Rosids › Rosales, Fagales, and Cucurbitales*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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