It is a fruit tree belonging in Moraceae and originating from Western Asia and it has a particularly developed root system, which makes it resistant to droughts. It has a robust, greyish trunk and large, rough, lobed leaves; its distinctive sap is sticky and milky. The Ficus Carica has two different botanical forms: the male, “caprifig” and the female, “true fig”. Both forms produce the common round and fleshy fruits with green or violet peel, only the fruits of the female plants, however, are edible since they are fertilized. The principal responsible for the process of “caprification” is an insect, the Blastophaga psenes.
