What is the scientific name of the common fig tree?

The scientific name of the common fig tree is Ficus carica.

Ficus carica is a deciduous tree or large shrub native to the Mediterranean region and parts of western and central Asia. It has been cultivated for thousands of years, making the common fig one of the oldest domesticated fruit crops. Its sweet, soft fruit is eaten fresh or dried and has played an important role in cuisines around the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Botanically, a fig is not simply a conventional fruit. The familiar fleshy structure is a syconium: a hollow, enclosed cluster of tiny flowers that develop on the inside. In some varieties, a tiny wasp pollinates those flowers, although many cultivated figs develop without pollination.

The name is easy to confuse with other familiar Ficus species. Ficus lyrata is the fiddle-leaf fig, Ficus elastica is the rubber plant, and Ficus benghalensis is the banyan. They belong to the same genus but are different species. Ficus carica specifically identifies the tree cultivated for the common edible fig.