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The common fig is a small, spreading deciduous tree with large, deeply lobed leaves and fruit which ripens from green to purple or brown. What we call a fig is not strictly a single fruit but a hollow structure containing many tiny flowers—a remarkably complicated arrangement for something so pleasant to eat.
Figs enjoy a warm, sheltered position, ideally against a sunny wall. Curiously, restricting their roots can improve fruit production by discouraging excessive leafy growth. Watering during dry spells helps the developing fruit, but generous nitrogen feeding tends to produce magnificent leaves and rather fewer figs.
I once used some cut fig twigs to mark the rows where I had sown broad beans. As the beans germinated, the supposedly inanimate row markers also began producing leaves. I had successfully marked the beans and, quite unintentionally, started propagating more fig trees. Win-win.