Fig Facts

According to UCLA's economic botany site, the oldest living fig tree in the New World is the Pizarro Tree at the governor's palace in Lima, Peru, planted around 1538. Closer to home, fig trees were planted in the southern U.S. in the late 1500s and early 1600s.

Although California didn't get into the game until the 1700s, it is currently the center of fig production in North America. Spanish missionaries were known to have brought trees with them and started planting them at missions throughout California, in the late 1750s. Supposedly this is how the Mission Fig got its name. There are currently about 50 varieties of fig trees available to growers. As with all fruits, breeding has offered improved varieties over the years. However, some of the most popular figs have been around quite a while. They are usually classified in the unscientific categories of green, yellow and dark.

Of course, there are horticultural classifications that might be of more help when selecting a variety to grow. The Common fig (Ficus carica) develops without pollination and is generally produced on new wood. This makes it popular with the home grower.

Mission figs fall into this category.

Smyrna figs do require pollination and pollinators in the form of the Blastophaga wasp in Caprifigs. Without them the fruit will not develop properly. With them you can expect a larger fruit, the type usually sold dry. Many consider Smyrnas the best tasting fig. "Calimyrna" is a popular variety for drying.

San Pedro figs can bear fruit twice in one season. The first crop will come on the prior season's growth and the second crop on the current season's growth. While the first crop, like the common fig, does not require pollination, the second crop is the Smyrna type. To have a second crop you would need pollination from the Caprifig. The "Kadota" is the most well known of the San Pedros.

Caprifigs are a small non-edible fruit. Their claim to fame is that they are the only fig type to have flowers which posess male parts and therefore produce pollen. This pollen is necessary for the fertilization of the Smyrna and San Pedro figs. The pollen is transferred by the Blastophaga wasp. Commercial growers purchase Blastophaga infested Caprifigs to hang in their orchards and pollinate the other types. This process is referred to as caprification. UCLA's The Puzzle of the Fig

goes into more detail on this process.

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