With a bit of luck the resinous quality is also missing and one has a tasty treat instead of something to spit out. This did not happen purely by chance for succulent fruit benefits the fig too. Very few critters, aside from goats, will eat the nearly seedless caprifig fruit, but many birds and small mammals will devour the seedy, edible figs. The seeds pass through the digestive tracts of the animals and are dispersed throughout the environment where some of them will fall on favorable ground for germination. They are not only possible, but have produced some valuable varieties such as the Hamma caprifig and the Alma edible fig.
Caprifigs usually bear three crops a year named profichi, mamme and mammoni .
Edible figs bear two crops a year called the breba and main crop . These are the kind home gardeners most commonly grow. Examples are Black Mission, Brown Turkey, Celeste, Brunswick and Adriatic. Which class an edible fig plant belongs in is governed by a pair of genes. There is no way to distinguish caprifigs from edible figs until they ripen fruit.