For the last year or so, I've had my eye on a half dozen figs that seem to be growing wild near my workplace. I had assumed they were planted by some guerrilla gardener. But just this week, I spotted a young fig growing in my girlfriend's back yard. She didn't plant it, and I don't imagine the guerrillas would plant there. So, it's wild? Planted by birds and squirrels?

How common is it for figs to pop up on their own?

Here are a few snapshots of them.

       

Wekadog, in So Cal we have the climate, the wasp and, we have the varriant immigrant population which means many types of figs...everywhere! I keep my eye on the different figs I find. I have been able to get cuttings from a frew so I will grow the cutting and later compare the fruit. Take pictures of what you find and share them here. I would be interested in seeing what your finds are.

Hi,
Here at least, dried figs are now common in lots of shops.
If such a fig is thrown in the wild, birds will peck at it. They will poop it where they will, and often near their nests.
Some birds do nest in small cavities and some seeds will sprout in those cavities.
I'm in Zone7, and this year, I found a figtree growing in a wall of an old Vauban fortress ( Vauban was an engineer in the XVIIIth century).
The tree is something like 5 years old. For now no fruits on it.
The problem with seedlings is finding one that fruits edible wares.

Since yours has fruits ... I still think that it was planted there or nearby before sprouting there.

The figs shown in my photos 2 and 3 above are ripening now. I picked two of them today. They may have needed a couple more days to achieve peak ripeness but even so, they were very nice. Sweet, with a rich flavor and crunchy seeds.

Not bad for a wild fig.

People here have reported wild figs growing in the wasp areas of CA. Birds love fresh figs, and with the fertile seeds, I can imagine they would be common. I recall hearing they were abundant in the drainage areas. Those figs look tasty by the way, very dark interior. Defiantly worth tasting wild figs and bringing the better ones into cultivation.

Mike in Hanover, VA

Wekadog it looks good, would it be worth growing?

" . . . would it be worth growing?"

It's hard to give a definitive answer. This plant grew in the wild without irrigation. The figs were not as nice as the Black Mission figs from my well-watered garden, but that's comparing apples to oranges.

Let me put it this way. If this tree were in my garden, I would care for it and enjoy the fruit - even if some other variety might be a little bit better.

Are you going to take some cuttings and try it in your garden for a few seasons?

If you do let me know, I'll be able to tell for sure if they are common, Smyrna or San Pedro type given that a wasp has never flown to western maine lol  What would you call it? Wekadog's Wild?

"Are you going to take some cuttings . . ."

Actually, last month I did take one cutting from this tree and one from the 5-lobed tree. I shoved the green stick into a cup of chipped tree trimmings, soaked it in water just once, put it in a Subway sandwich bag, and left it on the sunny front porch. Yesterday I looked for the first time in a month. It now has healthy roots and three cute little 5-lobed leaves the size of a quarter.

Unfortunately, the cutting from this tree didn't take. Totally my fault. This one I tried to root on my shady window sill without a bag. Even well watered, it dried out and died.

Now I know. Bag my green cuttings in full sunshine.

Yeah, I didn't have enough light with one batch and it provided abysmal results...

Thats funny that you've been noticing that.  Just the other day I was taking a slightly different route (my lunch break) and noticed this little guy in front of an apartment complex.  I'm tempted to try and cover it in fall as we can get some brutal winters up here in NYC.

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Have you guys ever tried digging them up and turning the wild seedling to container culture? Stephen, do you think that someone planted it there?  Given its location.