Common Fig
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 Common Fig foliage and fruit
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| Ficus carica L. |
The Common Fig (Ficus carica) is a large shrub or small tree native to southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean region (Greece east to Afghanistan). It grows to a height of 3-10 m tall, with smooth grey bark. The leaves are deciduous, 12-25 cm long and 10-18 cm across, and deeply lobed with three or five lobes. The fruit is the well-known fig, 3-5 cm long, green ripening purple.
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[edit] Cultivation and uses
The Common Fig is widely grown for its edible fruit, grown throughout its native area, and also the rest of the Mediterranean region and other areas of the world with a similar climate, including Australia, Chile, South Africa, and California, Oregon, Texas, and Washington in the United States.
The edible fig is one of the first plants that was cultivated by humans. An article in Science stated that nine fossilized figs dating to about 9400-9200 BC were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I in the Jordan Valley. As the figs were of the parthenocarpic type, they are of an early domestic breed. The find predates the domestication of wheat, barley and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture.[1] Thousands of cultivars, most unnamed, have been developed or come into existence as human migration brought the fig to many places outside its natural range. It has been an important food crop for thousands of years, and was also thought to be highly beneficial in the diet.
Figs can be eaten fresh or dried, and used in jam-making. Most commercial production is as dried or otherwise processed forms, since the ripe fruit does not transport well, and once picked does not keep well.
[edit] Cultural & literary aspects
| Fig, dried, uncooked Nutritional value per 100 g |
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| Energy 250 kcal 1040 kJ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database |
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In the book of Genesis in the Bible, Adam and Eve clad themselves with fig leaves after eating the "Forbidden fruit" from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Likewise, fig leaves, or depictions of fig leaves, have long been used to cover the genitals of nude figures in painting and sculpture. Often these fig leaves were added by art collectors or exhibitors long after the original work was completed. The use of the fig leaf as a protector of modesty or shield of some kind has entered the language.
The biblical quote "each man under his own vine and fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25) has been used to denote peace and prosperity. It was commonly quoted to refer to the life that would be led by settlers in the American West, and was used by Theodor Herzl in his depiction of the future Jewish Homeland.
[edit] Picture gallery
 Common Fig leaves and fruit |
 The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden - fresco depicting a distressed Adam and Eve, with and without fig leaves, by Tommaso Masaccio, 1426-27 |
