Ficus carica is an
Asian species of
flowering plants 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.
Native to the
Middle East and western
Asia, it has been sought out and cultivated since ancient times, and is now widely grown throughout the
temperate world, both for its fruit and as an
ornamental plant. The species has become naturalized in scattered locations in Asia and North America.