Fig

Where it grows

The common fig was one of the earliest plants domesticated by humans, with archaeological evidence from the Jordan valley dating back at least 11,000 years. Wild figs grow across western Asia and the Mediterranean. Turkey and Egypt are the leading commercial producers.

How to recognise it

A small spreading tree or large shrub with smooth grey bark and the famously deeply lobed, slightly rough, hand-shaped leaves. The “fig” is not a fruit in the ordinary sense but a syconium — a hollow flask lined on the inside with hundreds of tiny flowers, opening only to a small pore at the tip.

Uses

Fresh figs are eaten in season and dried for year-round consumption. They go into preserves, baked into Christmas puddings and Fig Newtons, and paired with sharp cheeses. The leaves can be used to wrap savoury dishes for grilling, lending a coconut-and-vanilla scent.

Pollination

Wild figs depend on tiny fig wasps that crawl into the syconium to pollinate the flowers and lay eggs — one of nature’s most specialised mutualisms. Commercial varieties such as Brown Turkey are parthenocarpic and set fruit without pollination.