Ficus carica is an Asian species of flowering plant in the mulberry family, known as the common fig (or just the fig). It is the source of the fruit also called the fig and as such is an important crop in those areas where it is grown commercially. It is a gynodioecious, i. e., functionally dioecious, deciduous tree or large shrub that grows up to 7–10 metres tall, with smooth white bark. Its fragrant foliage is 12–25 centimetres long and 10–18 centimetres wide, and deeply lobed with 3 or 5 lobes.
The flowers are not visible outside the syconium because they bloom inside the infructescence. Although commonly denominated a “fruit”, the fig is in truth the infructescence or scion of the tree, known as a “false fruit” or “multiple fruit”, which bears the flowers and seeds. It is a hollow-ended stem that contains many flowers.
