the date they readily dry in the sun to a longkeeping, concentrated source of nourishment, they have been an important human food for many thousands of years The fig is the fruit mentioned most often in the Bible, and was said to grow in the Garden of Eden Spanish explorers brought it to the Americas via Mexico, and it now grows in many dry subtropical regions There are many varieties, some green-skinned and some purple, some with bright red interiors Ripe fresh figs are 80% water, very fragile and perishable The vast bulk of the world crop is preserved by drying, a process that normally begins on the tree and then concludes on the orchard floor or in mechanical dryers The fig is unusual in being more flower than fruit The main body is a fleshy flower base folded in on itself, with an open pore opposite the stem, and inner female florets that develop into small, individual dry fruits that crunch like “seeds.” The florets are pollinated by tiny wasps that enter through the pore Many fig varieties will set fruit without pollination and produce “seeds” with no embryo inside, but fig experts say that fertilization and seed development seem to generate different flavors (Wasps carry microbes into the fig interior, so fertilized fruits also suffer greater spoilage.) Smyrna figs and their descendants (“Calimyrna” is the California version) will not set fruit unless fertilized They must be grown alongside a separate and inedible crop of “caprifigs,” from which the wasps obtain fig pollen and lay their eggs Food Words: Date, Pomegranate Date comes from the Greek word for “finger,” daktulos, which the elongated fruits resemble Pomegranate comes from medieval French, and is a combination of Latin roots meaning “apple” and “grainy” or “seedy.” ... fertilized They must be grown alongside a separate and inedible crop of “caprifigs,” from which the wasps obtain fig pollen and lay their eggs Food Words: Date, Pomegranate Date comes from the Greek... generate different flavors (Wasps carry microbes into the fig interior, so fertilized fruits also suffer greater spoilage.) Smyrna figs and their descendants (? ??Calimyrna” is the California version) will not set fruit unless... word for “finger,” daktulos, which the elongated fruits resemble Pomegranate comes from medieval French, and is a combination of Latin roots meaning “apple” and “grainy” or “seedy.”