No snakes, no skunks.  Just mongoose, is it mongeese (plural)?  LOL, island humor...
Yeah, coffee's big here.  Pineapples and sugar cane has been replaced by tourism and golf courses.  The old ways of Hawaii are on the other islands...sigh...

Nate

three professions are important in life, or at least i think so. 

1) farmers
2) Healers (not doctors)
3) Jesters 

all others are wasting our time. including me. 

I have a theory that we DON'T have Lampeira in the US!  My theory is based on Condit's "Fig Varieties: A Monograph" page 368, and Malli's "FigLink1110.pdf" where his genetic fingerprinting shows a match of "Adriatic DFIC 032" and "Lampeira DFIC 192" (see the family tree on the right side top of group G9).  Such a genetic match is in theory impossible as Lampeira is a San Pedro type and Adriatic is a Common type Fig!

My conclusion from this genetic "match" and others in Malli's study, cross-referenced with Condit is that there are a number of improperly identified/labeled cultivars in the UC Davis/Wolfskill collection.  Since most of us accept cuttings/plants we obtain as being correctly labeled, it's easy to see how misinformation gets passed along.  Other examples in Malli's study that support my conclusion can be found with Archipel DFIC 007 & Drap D'or DFIC 250 (bottom of group G1), and Brunswick DFIC 034 & Doree DFIC 213 (bottom of group G3).  See what Condit says about Doree based on Starnes' observation!  The Doree issue has been ongoing for over 100 years.

If this isn't enough confusion for you, check Malli's matches for Brown Turkey (bottom of group G5) and it's pretty clear why I believe "Brown Turkey" is the most misidentified Fig variety available in the US.

Have Fun :)   kiwibob, Seattle

I would tend to agree with you about Lampeira.  I've been looking for the real thing for so long that I forgot what it was that put it on my radar.  I've tried to order it every year since then from UCD (even though I doubted it was)... without luck.  I was lucky enough to have some cuttings sent to me earlier several weeks ago.  If the fig is as good as my supplier told me it is, I will be very happy.  I am still not certain, however, it is the same fig that I originally sought other than by name.

~james

I don't believe Malli's study really identified any DNA matches, only some mis-matches.  The number of SSRs used was quite small and there are really not any established standards from which to go by.

According to a geneticist friend of mine, SSRs are considered an old method of testing and SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) are being used for all major crops.  Additionally, the data available for figs is quite low with 367 gene sequences submitted tot he genebank (up from 360 when I last looked in June 2013): http://tinyurl.com/FigDNAsequences compared to nearly 54,000 for lettuce: http://tinyurl.com/LettuceDNAsequences

I only know understand enough about this to know we don't know much. :)

k, i think I'm going back to my fig micro farming.

is Lampeira a San Pedro type? i heard Lampeira Preta is San Pedro from francisco's post. 

Yes Pete.

It is a San Pedro type. Big juicy Brebas by the end of May, first days of June and a second crop of smaller but very good, sweet and flavored figs in Aug/September..This second crop requires caprification

Some pictures of this San Pedro variety

Francisco



           

francisco, i have been looking at the pix from nelson's posts where he was showing different portugese figs. it seems your figs look much more... wonderful for lack of better word. palatable.. simply much better looking. i assume that is due to caprication of the figs, better climate, soil.. they just look better. for example your Beb. Branca.. they look as if they are filled with juice when others in US looks not as big, nor as juicy. 

Francisco - are any of those photos showing the breba crop?  And do the brebas get pollinated by your wasp as well (I understand that they do not NEED caprification) or are the wasps not active at the time they are receptive?

Thanks Pete.

I understand quite well the suspicious and sometimes negative attitudes against caprification, the 'horrors'  of chewing insects, and apart from all that some fears on the commercial side.

Particularly on some areas of California a good deal of backyard growers, hobbyists, etc.. are getting their figs caprified without even noticing it.. Some, I believe they are aware of that but not many.
The recent discovery of those Caprifigs along the LA creek leads me to believe that a good many similar trees abound on those banks and, who knows, fruitfull seedlings as well.

I would advise if I may, that our Californian members start doing the simple and inexpensive seed gravity test (takes 2 minutes)  to be aware of the fruit receiving involuntary pollination. This would mean that somewhere, not too far away there will be a source of wasps.
Talking 3 or 4 years ago with a local grower, selling BBranca in a local market I asked him what was he doing to grow so nice, syrupy and large figs, while his competitors were not as much successful.. and he said that ..that was his secret ! - well, we know what the secret is.

Francisco

i for one, wouldn't mind munching on fig wasps.. if they can make my figs look that good. but i heard the fig wasps are absorbed by the fig and it's not noticeable. :) 

Ed,

I am sorry.. I am still a nut manipulating the pic attachments to the wording and in this case the good sequence was broken for some reason

The first, second and last picture refer to the Breba fruits.
All reaming pics are from second crop (much smaller figs).. colors between light violet and diff shades of yellowish/brown, and with cracks on their skin.

These Brebas are not pollinated and do not require it
The second crop yes ! without pollination the figs very rapidly turn dry (dark brown) and fall.

By the time the  first Brebas are ripe (say the very beginning of June), the wasp is still 'nonactive' inside the Caprifig. When they reach the final stages of their metamorphosis - 20/24 June - and exit the Caprifig, practically all Brebas have matured.

On the top of last picture you may see two much smaller figs... these are the main crop fruit in very early development.
The small fig on the left ( dark brown, almost violet) is totally dry and is going to fall, failing caprification...the other one on the right was apparently sucessfully caprificated.



Francisco

If there are ants in my food (similar to wasps in some regard) I will still eat it, in the phillipines they would be all over the turon (maybe 5-6 per piece) and I would eat them because they wouldn't leave them alone, if there are ants in my figs I end up eating them too, a fig wasp would not bother me much, I am sure I have eaten much worse things before.

Mine is purple like Lampo's 4th pic above.  It has a rich flavor and excellent tasting.

Francisco, your photos above are of Lampeira Preta, right?  Do you have photos of a Lampeira Branca?  You wrote previously that it's grown mostly to the north of you.  I think there is some confusion on this partly because of incomplete names.

Dennis, how are your Lampeira Preta being camprified?  Or are you obtaining breba only?

Harvey, they are not caprified---just brebas.  I only get one crop a year.  Which reminds me to go get my tree and bring it inside.  We got more ice coming tonight.

Okay, Dennis, that's interesting because your breba look like Francisco's main crop (photo #4).  You need some wasps with pollen! :)

Harvey, yes those pictures are from Lampeira Preta - Brebas and Main, no doubt

As for Lampeira Branca, my understanding is that although sharing the name with her black sister, this cultivar is not a San Pedro type... It belongs to the 'Cachopeiro´ types, which means that it gives the two crops per year, BOTH being parthenocarpic, i.e., no need for Caprification to ripen.
Within the most known of the  Cachopeiro group there is one particular cultivar of good characteristics,  called -Cachopeiro- which was shown last year on the forum...

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/figo-cachopeiro-6447341?highlight=cachopeiro

Apparently (not yet sure) this cachopeiro fig is synonym to Lampeira Branca. Will try and clarify this later this coming Summer.

Francisco

I won't say where mine came from!

I know where it came from Dennis, from a fig tree.

have both. will have to see how they turn out in few yrs. i know it won't be as good as in francisco's location, but would love to see how they turn out in nc.

Okay, then I guess there is a fair chance that what is distributed around CRFG exchanges from Prusch Park is Lampeira Branca.

Dennis, when you come for a visit in August I'll have to request that you come with a blindfold.  Don't want you to see any names, okay? :)

Once your Black Lampeiras are established and growing, if your main interest is for the Breba crop, (which I believe shall be the case) , some common sense rules have to be observed concerning pruning.

These trees under above circumstances are to be pruned just after picking the last Brebas (July) to warrant enough 'last year's wood' where the next season fruit will appear.

Lampeira Preta,  very popular tree in every backyard (years back), owners would diligently graft one or two Caprifig buds on a less exposed branch to have their main crop pollinated and enjoy their prolific output for the table as well as for drying (a very tasty, flavored and crunchy fig)

Francisco

Francisco, you're referring to Pete (and Dennis?), right?  I'm looking forward to breba and main with plenty of crunch seeds. :)