Plant
Fig
Ficus carica
Also known as: Ficus carica, common fig
A deciduous tree or large shrub native to southwestern Asia and the Mediterranean — domesticated in the Jordan Valley at least 11,000 years ago, making it potentially the oldest cultivated plant in human history (earlier than [[wheat]], [[barley]], and the rest of the Fertile Crescent founder crops). The botanical fruit is actually an inverted inflorescence (a *syconium*) with hundreds of tiny flowers inside, pollinated exclusively by a specialized fig wasp in one of the most intricate plant-pollinator co-evolutions on Earth.
Scientific
Ficus carica is in the family Moraceae. The “fruit” is a syconium — a hollow receptacle with hundreds of tiny flowers lining the inside, accessed only through a small opening at the base. In wild figs, a tiny fig wasp (genus Blastophaga) enters the receptacle to lay eggs and pollinates the flowers in the process. Each fig species has its own specialized wasp; the wasp species can’t reproduce without its fig, and the fig species can’t reproduce without its wasp. The mutualism is one of the textbook examples of obligate plant-pollinator co-evolution.
Most commercially-grown figs are parthenocarpic cultivars that produce fruit without wasp pollination, so the figs you buy at the grocery store generally do not contain wasps.
Cultural and historical
Pre-pottery Neolithic fig remains in the Jordan Valley (~11,400 years old) predate the cultivation of cereals — the fig may be the oldest known domesticated plant. The species’ position in cultural traditions is extraordinary:
- The Buddha attained enlightenment under a [[bodhi-tree|Ficus religiosa]] ([[bodhi-tree|bodhi tree]], a related species)
- Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves in Genesis
- Romulus and Remus were nursed under a Ficus ruminalis in Roman foundation myth
- The fig is one of the seven biblical species of the Land of Israel
Global production
Top producers: Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Iran.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[wheat]] · [[pomegranate]] · [[opium-poppy]] · [[olive]] · [[lentil]]
- Member of: [[plants]] · [[mediterranean-ancient-orchard]] · [[seven-species-of-israel]] · [[persian-culinary-iconography]]
- Cousin of: [[bodhi-tree]]
Sources
- FAO Crop Statistics
- Wikipedia — Common fig
A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Scientific
cousin of
- Bodhi tree auto-linked from body mention
Cultural
shares approach with
- Breadfruit auto-linked from body mention
- Carob Mediterranean / Levantine heritage tree, biblical-text mentioned, ancient cultivar in the same orchard tradition.
- Jackfruit auto-linked from body mention
- Pomegranate Seven-species kin; both ancient sacred-text fruits of the Levant, both still domestic-garden staples across the Mediterranean and Persian world.
- Taro auto-linked from body mention
- Yucca auto-linked from body mention
General
shares approach with
- Date palm auto-linked via shared tag: domesticated
- Opium poppy auto-linked via shared tag: domesticated
9 inbound links · 10 outbound