Interesting facts about fig trees

Since our orchards are full of fig trees, with this post, we would like to share with you some fascinating facts about fig trees. Have you ever wondered why a fig’s texture differs from other fruits? Apparently, fig trees have no blossoms on their branches. The blossom is inside of the fruit! Many tiny flowers produce the crunchy little edible seeds that give figs their unique texture.

Here are 10 Fascinating Fig Facts to pique your interest:

• There are over 750 known Ficus species in the world, native all across the globe.
• Nearly every species of fig tree is pollinated by its own distinct species of fig wasp, each a fascinating example of co-evolution.
• Fig trees are keystone species in many rainforests, producing fruit year round that is an important food source for thousands of animal species, from bats to monkeys to birds.
• Although the average female fig wasp is less than two millimeters long, she must often travel tens of kilometers in less than 48 hours to lay her eggs in another fig—a truly heroic journey!
• Fig tree flowers are actually hidden inside the fruit, which led many early cultures to believe the plants were flowerless.
• Figs have played prominent roles in every major modern religion, including Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.
• Some fig species are trees, others are vines, shrubs, or even epiphytes.
• Female rhinoceros hornbills are sealed into the hollow trunks of trees to brood by their male partners, who also deliver them figs to eat through narrow crevices.
• Strangler figs grow their roots downward from the tops of their host trees, ultimately killing and replacing them.
• A banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) can resemble a small forest thanks to the false trunks grown from its aerial prop roots. The largest one on record is growing in India and spans more than four acres.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all agree, for instance, that fig trees have been part of the human tale since Day One. In the creation story these three religions share, a fig tree was present in the Garden of Eden along with the first people, whom English speakers call Adam and Eve. God had given the couple all they needed and the freedom to do what they liked, but with one proviso—they must not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.