Used in:
- III Nephi 6:28 [14:16] - Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
What does the Book of Mormon state?
- This is just a saying. It does not mention that figs existed in the New World
At face value - Did figs exist in the New World?
Statement
- Mulberry (species: Morus), figs (species: Ficus), and breadfruit (species: Artocarpus) are in the same family (Mulberry Family - Moraceae) and are related to thistles and nettles (Class Magnoliopsida)
- All three exist in Mesoamerica
Assessment
- Figs are endemic to Mesoamerica
Additional Material
- Dresden Codex
- The Dresden Codex was deposited at the Royal Library at Dresden in 1744 when a private owner who couldn't read the glyphs and thought the book to be worthless. In 1910, it came to the attention of Dr. Rudolph Schwede, who determined that the book was not made from maguey plant, but instead from the fibers of the Ficus...Frederick Starr began the idea of bast-fiber paper in 1900 when he witnessed the Otomi stripping bark to beat into paper, and Dr. Rudolph Schwede concluded that the paper of the Mayan and Aztec world was made from the bast fibers, or inner bark fibers of several species of Ficus and a paper mulberry which is very similar to the plant used in Japanese papermaking. The most common papers are from the Ficus padifolia, Ficus Goldmanii, nettle bush (Urera baccifera), and the mulberry (Morus celtifolia). The wild fig varieties (the Ficus) produce a brown paper and the mulberry trees produce white. (Christensen & Marti.1972.p14) This is important as both white and brown papers are needed to cast various white and black magic spells. Also, the bark of the wild fig peels off in very long sheets, which is kept intact and produces the characteristic folded screen fashion of the Mayan Codex.
- https://pacer.ischool.utexas.edu/html/2081/1389/g-pierce-03-papermaking.html (reference only - link is no longer active)
