Common Fig

Ficus carica

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Order:

Rosales

Family:

Moraceae (Mulberry)

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Maximum Size:

4 metres tall

Habitats:

Walls, wasteland.

Flower:

Green, no petals

Small and green, later turning into figs. Mainly pollinated by wasps.

Fruit:

Showy pear-shaped fruit, borne solitary, green to brown. The fruit develops within each receptacle and ripens in late summer.

Leaves:

Deciduous. Large broadly ovate alternate leaves, palmate 3 to 7-lobed with toothed margins. The upper leaf surface is dark green and has a texture similar to sandpaper. The lower leaf surface is pale green and smooth. The leaves are arranged spirally along the stems on stalks of up to 5cm.

Other Names:

Adriatic Fig, Edible Fig, Smyrna Fig.

Frequency (UK):

Unusual

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map