Fig tree
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.