The fig is the edible fruit of Ficus carica, small tree species in the mulberry family. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown worldwide, both for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Ficus carica is the type species of the genus Ficus, containing over 800 tropical and subtropical plants. Fig plant is a small deciduous tree or large shrub growing up to 7–10 meters (23–33 ft) tall, with smooth white bark. Its large leaves have three to five deep lobes. Its fruit is tear-shaped, 3–5 centimeters (1.2–2.0 in) long, with a green skin that may ripen toward purple or brown, and sweet soft reddish flesh containing numerous crunchy seeds. The milky sap of the green parts is an irritant to human skin.
In botany, a fruit is a seed-bearing structure in flowering plants formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are how flowering plants disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits, in particular, have long propagated using the movements of humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food.