Page 20 - Edible Trees For Tucson

Fig

Ficus carica Moraceae

D ESCRIPTI O N

Fig trees are upright to pendulous, spreading
or compact shrubs or small trees, with broad,
palmate, deciduous leaves. Fig leaves are deeply
divided into 3-7 lobes, which may be shallowly
lobed and irregularly toothed along the margins.
Trunks reach 7 inches in diameter, with multiple
open branches. Branches and stems have milky
sap. The fruit may be rounded to pear-shaped,
and yellow-green to brown, bronze, red and dark-
purple. Inside, numerous flowers are produced
along the inner wall. The fleshy, fruit wall is pale-
yellow to pink, red or purple. Fruits may have 30
to 1,600 seeds.

E THN O B O T ANI CAL N O TES

• Fig trees thrive in Mediterranean climates: dry
summers, warm winters, and little fall rains.
• Figs originated in southern Arabia and
dispersed from there to Asia Minor, Syria,
and the Mediterranean region.
• One of the first crops to be cultivated, figs
appear in Sumerian records in 2900 BCE and
Babylonian hymnals ~2000 BCE.
• Fig fruit have been found in Egyptian tombs,
and references appear in the writings of Pliny,
Cato and Theophrastus.
• Figs first arrived to England from 1525-1548.
European figs then traveled to China, Japan,
India, South Africa and Australia.
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