I recently visited the house of someone who lives a couple miles from me in the MD suburbs of DC. She wasn't home but I noticed she had a large multi-trunked fig tree in her front yard. Later I emailed her to ask her about the tree and this is what she wrote back:
"Nice to meet another fig fan. I don’t know the variety of the one I have, but I can tell you that it’s dark purplish brown on the outside and red on the inside. The figs are fine, nice and sweet. I usually eat a few and give many away. I got the tree from a friend. Here’s the history: My friend’s Italian father broke off a twig from a fig tree in New York City and planted it in Connecticut, where he lived. He generated new trees from it (heeling down a branch and letting it root) and gave trees to his friends. When his daughter moved to the Washington area he sent a tree along with her. She continued the tradition of giving trees to friends and thus I got mine, sometime in the early 2000s."
I'm tempted to ask her for cuttings and try propagating this one but I have my hands full with propagating other varieties and other projects in the next few months. There's always the risk that it will turn out to be Brown Turkey or another common variety but then again it could turn out to be a really interesting variety. It's got an interesting story anyway and the Italian father must have liked it well enough to propagate it and give it to others. The tree here in MD is unprotected so presumably it is cold-hardy. If anyone is interesting in propagating this one please send me a PM and I'll ask the owner for three cuttings and then send them. I only ask that whoever propagates it eventually posts pics of the leaves and fruit on the forum so that it can be identified (if possible). Of course, if it turns out to be a really interesting unknown I would like some cuttings sent back to me :)
Whoever writes me first will get the cuttings (assuming the owner agrees to let me obtain them).
Steve