Deciduous trees or shrubs to 10 m tall. Leaves variable, thick, 10-20 cm long, deeply 3-5 lobed, the lobes irregularly toothed, rough above, hairy below, venation palmate. Fruit solitary, axillary or almost terminal, pear-shaped, green, brown or violet.
Mediterranean, Asia Minor
Lobed leaves.
Condit (1955).
This is the edible fig which produces 2 crops of figs each year. The common fig does not require pollination for the production of the pear-shaped fleshy receptacle that is eaten. There are several cultivars used both fresh for eating and for drying and jams although they are not produced in commercial quantities. Several cultivars are being investigated by the NSW Department of Agriculture Narara Research Station including 'Excel' (pale yellow with amber pulp) and 'Flanders' (greenish purple with pinkish red pulp), both as fresh fruit.
Source: (1997). Moraceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
An old cultivar, figs dark-skinned, pulp red with a sweet, rich flavour.
Figs with a brown skin and pinkish brown pulp, rich flavour.
Figs green with cream pulp, good for jam.
Ficus carica 'Preston Prolific'
Figs greenish brown with good flavour.
Figs large, yellowish green, pulp pink to red. Fresh edible fruit.
Figs pale green, pulp amber-pink, sweet flavour