Species of fig tree native to Africa; it has been cultivated since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used it from the Predynastic period in the third millennium BCE; it is this tree represented as the ancient Egyptian Tree of Life. The fruit, timber, even the twigs included in the tombs of Early, Middle and Late Kingdoms; caskets of some mummies are made from the wood of this species. It is also mentioned in several passages in the Bible. This species requires the presence of the symbiotic wasp Ceratosolen arabicus to reproduce sexually, but this insect is now extinct in Egypt. In tropical areas where the wasp is common, complex mini-ecosystems involving the wasp, nematodes, other parasitic wasps, and various larger predators revolve around the life cycle of the fig. For other trees that are sometimes called simply "sycamore," use "Acer pseudoplatanus" for the sycamore maple and "Platanus occidentalis" for the American sycamore plane tree.
