If it produces fruit it makes a good bow (rule of thumb)
The vast majority of
Angiosperms produce fruits, so that is a very disputable statement. With the exception of yew and juniper (and a few other Gymnosperms), all other bowwoods are in the Angiosperm group and do produce fruits.
A "fruit tree" is not the same as a "fruit producing tree", as the first is a common name for the plants that produce our fruits we find in the supermarket (apple, pear, plum, peach etc.) while the latter indicated any tree that produces fruits (for instance, balsa wood also produces
fruits, although you wouldn't call that a fruit tree).
I personally avoid the term 'fruit tree', as this creates confusion. Would a mango, papaya, lychee, grape or carambola tree be called a 'fruit tree'? In our temperate climate, I think the term 'fruit tree' would apply to fruit bearing trees in the family Rosaceae. Most woods from this family are indeed very decent bowwoods (pear, apple, plum, cherry, apricot, peach).
While fig is in the same family Moraceae as osage (and thus mulberry), I don't think it makes good bowwood. The wood is weak, soft and the latex precludes its use for many purposes.
