Fig (Ficus carica L.) is one of the oldest domesticated fruit species in the world. The English word g is of ancient origin, derived from the Latin cus. The species name carica refers to Caria, an ancient region of Asia Minor noted for gs (Ferguson et al., 1990). The genus Ficus is one of 40 genera belonging to the Moraceae family with more than 800 species and most found in the tropics or subtropics, the most important of which are F. carica, F. religiosa, F. elastica, F. benghalensis, and F. rumphi (Condit, 1969; Woodland, 1997; Berg & Corner, 2005). The genus Ficus is found mainly in the tropics, but Ficus carica L. is a subtropical fruit tree (Ferguson et al., 1990). Figs are currently cultivated in warm and temperate climates and have grown as a Mediterranean fruit tree for many years (Sahin, 1998). The ancestral g (Ficus carica L.) tree was monoecious and later evolved into gynodioecious species with bisexual trees (functional male gs or caprigs) and unisexual female trees (Nabli, 1989; Machado et al., 2001). Both female and male owers are organized inside the syconium. A female fruit contains hundreds of female owers. A male g plant, called caprig, has hundreds of separated male (staminate) owers and female (pistillate) owers. The differentiation between the hermaphroditic and female strains forms establishes the basis for maintaining the close symbiotic relationship between Ficus plants and the Blastophaga wasps (Galil & Neeman, 1977).
