Figs were historically grown across the Middle East

Two kinds of fig-growing

A fig is not a single flower but a cluster of tiny flowers tucked inside a hollow structure. In some fig varieties, a tiny wasp must enter through a narrow opening to pollinate those flowers. The wasp’s life cycle is tied to particular figs, making pollination part of a close biological partnership.

But not every fig variety needs that partnership to produce fruit. Many common figs develop without pollination, so farmers could grow them without relying on wasps. The crop’s spread across the Middle East did not depend on one universal method of reproduction.

Farmers could work with the wasp

Where growers cultivated varieties that did require pollination, they could manage the process by bringing branches bearing small, inedible figs—often called caprifigs—into orchards. These figs provide places for the wasps to breed; as the insects move among figs, they carry pollen. This practice, known as caprification, turned an unusual natural dependency into something farmers could accommodate.

That distinction helps explain why fig cultivation was practical despite the insect’s specialized role. Growers could choose varieties that set fruit without pollination, or use wasp-bearing figs where pollination was necessary. The fig’s biology shaped cultivation, but it did not make the crop dependent on wasps everywhere.