Fig

If you have ever seen a picture of Adam and Eve, you probably know the fig leaf. But figs are better appreciated for their tasty fruits. This page gives some basic information on figs, some fig photos, and some fig proverbs and quotes.

Basic information on fig

Scientific name:	Ficus carica
English:	Common fig
English:	Fig
English:	Fig tree
Dutch:	Vijg
Dutch:	Vijgenboom
Spanish:	Higuera
French:	Figue
French:	Figuier commun
German:	Feige
German:	Echte Feige
Italian:	Fico comune
Italian:	Fico

Family:	Moraceae
Order:	Rosales

Origin:	South-west Asia and eastern part of the Mediterranean (Greece)
Distribution:	Figs are grown in Mediterranean countries, Iran, Pakistan, North India, some parts of the USA and Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Australia and Chili.
Evergreen or deciduous:	Deciduous
Flowers:
Leaves:	Fig leaves are deeply lobed with three or five lobes. Leaves are 10 to 25 centimeter long and 10 to 18 centimeter wide.
Fruits:	Fig fruits are green and about 3 to 5 centimeter in diameter. When ripe the color can turn to purple.
Climate and weather:	The common fig grows in a temperate or Mediterranean climate.
Pollination:
Height:	Shrub or small tree of 3 to 10 meter height
Crown size:
Blooming period
Type of soil:
Preferred pH:
Moisture:
Light:
Growth rate:
Spacing (close range)
Spacing (wide range)
Canopy:
Propagation:	Figs are usually not propagated by seeds, but by vegetative methods such as air layering.
Insect pests:
Diseases:
Fruit development:
Harvesting:	Take care when harvesting because the sap can irritate the skin.
Uses:	Fruits are eaten fresh or dried. They can also be processed to make jam.

Photos

Figs

Proverbs and quotes

Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Half figs, half raisins.
He ate one fig and he thought the autumn had come.
He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And he who cares for his master will be honored. (New American Standard Bible, Proverbs 27:18)
If you have figs in your knapsack, everyone will want to be your friend.
One eats figs whilst the other pays.
Peel a fig for your friend, a peach for your enemy.
Rather a single grape for me than a brace of figs for thee.
Sharing figs can leave you with none at all.
The most beautiful fig may contain a worm.
When the figs are ripe all the birds want to eat.
O excellent! I love long life better than figs. (William Shakespeare)
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. (Bible: Genesis 3:7)

Did you know that?

The sap of the green parts of the fig is an irritant to the skin.
The fig fruit is actually not a real fruit but the flower of the tree. It is a false fruit in which the flowers and seeds grow together to form a single mass, which looks like a fruit.
In the Bible (Book of Genesis), Adam and Eve use fig leaves to cover themselves after eating the "forbidden fruit".
Fig fruits are rich in calcium and fiber.
Figs can have a laxative effect.
The fig is one of the first plants that was cultivated by humans already more than 11,000 years ago.

Recipes

Please send me a tasty fig recipe.