Everywhere common in Palestine, both wild and cultivated. Figs were an important food. The tree is one of the earliest to show its fruitbuds, which appear before the leaves; thus a fig tree with leaves would be expected to also have fruit. Jesus’ cursing the fig tree for its fruitlessness (Mark 11:12–13, 20–23) was an allusion to the fruitlessness of Israel. The time when the leaves appear indicates that summer is “nigh at hand” (Matt. 24:32–33; D&C 45:37–38; JS—M 1:38–39). For other references to figs, see Gen. 3:7; 1 Kgs. 4:25; 2 Kgs. 20:7; John 1:47–50. The sycomore, spoken of in Isa. 9:10, Amos 7:14, and Luke 19:4, was a variety of fig tree.