Ficus carica — common fig
![Bark: Ficus carica. ~ By Will Cook. ~ Copyright © 2024 Will Cook. ~ cwcook[at]duke.edu, carolinanature.com ~ North Carolina Plant Photos - www.carolinanature.com/plants/](https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Moraceae/ficus-carica-ba-wcook.jpg)
![Flowers: Ficus carica. ~ By William and Linda Steere and the C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium. ~ Copyright © 2024 William and Linda Steere and the C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium. ~ Barbara Thiers, Director; bthiers[at]nybg.org ~ C.V. Starr Herbarium - NY Botanical Gardens](https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Moraceae/ficus-carica-fl-cvstarr1.jpg)
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Facts
Common fig is a shrub with fuzzy twigs and sandpapery, lobed leaves which is widely cultivated in the south and has escaped a few gardens in Massachusetts. Its fleshy fruits are edible. Figs have a very unusual pollination scheme. Their flowers are actually produced inside the package (syconium) we think of as the "fig." Tiny wasps live inside the syconium and lay their eggs there, incidentally transferring pollen from flowers of one syconium to another. When the eggs hatch, the flightless males mate with the females, and chew a hole through the syconium through which the females escape to fly to another syconium and carry on the cycle. Don't worry, though; you're unlikely to swallow a wasp when you eat a fig; they will have flown the coop by the time the "fig" is ripe.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
enlargeCharacteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Massachusetts
- Growth form
-
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- the plant is a tree
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf blade length
- 150–300 mm
- Leaf blade width
- 150–300 mm
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is fleshy
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- Bud scale number
- there are no scales on the winter buds
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are no scales on the winter buds
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
- Winter bud scale hairs
- NA
- Winter bud scales
- the winter bud is naked (not covered with scales)
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
- the carpels are fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower petal color
- NA
- Flower symmetry
- there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower does not have a hypanthium
- Inflorescence type
-
- the flowers grow out of the axil (point where a branch or leaf is attached to the main stem)
- the inflorescence differs from the choices given
- Number of pistils
- 1
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower includes only one cycle of petals or sepals
- Petal appearance
- NA
- Petal fusion
- NA
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Stamen number
- 1 or 2
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
- NA
- Fruit tissue origin
- there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is fleshy
- Fruit type (specific)
- the fruit is a multiple (composed of two or more ovaries from separate flowers)
- Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is thick and colored
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- NA
-
Growth form
- Growth form
-
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- the plant is a tree
-
Leaves
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
- the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
- Leaf blade base shape
- The base of the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped, with rounded lobes)
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade hairs
- the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given
- Leaf blade length
- 150–300 mm
- Leaf blade shape
-
- the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
- the leaf blade is orbicular (roughly circular, as wide as long)
- the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
- Leaf blade width
- 150–300 mm
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf stalk nectaries
- there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk
- Leaf teeth
-
- the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth
- the leaf blade margin is undulate (wavy), but does not have teeth
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
- the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Massachusetts
- Specific habitat
- man-made or disturbed habitats
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- Branch cross-section
- the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- NA
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Occurs only in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: UPL)
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- absent
- Maine
- absent
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- absent
- Rhode Island
- absent
- Vermont
- absent
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
- Massachusetts
- not applicable (S-rank: SNA)
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
1. Ficus carica L. E
common fig. MA. Roadsides, clearings, disburbed places.