Is their a real banana fig or is it kadota? ???
My wifes uncle lives in south Louisiana and has two very old trees he calls a rare banana fig. At least I n Louisiana it is rare. Its a yellow fig with light pink pulp. He gave me cuttings. The tree is already fully dormant.

Since getting into figs, I have been trying to figure this out myself. Here in Houston "banana" figs are very common. But all the ones that I have found so far have amber colored pulp inside. They appear to basically be kadota. I even check nurseries and places around Seabrook (supposedly the home of the banana fig).

I have taken cuttings off about half a dozen banana fig trees this spring and summer. I am grow them out, alone with a true kadota, to conduct a comparison. But I feel, at least in this area, people use "banana fig" to describe the kadota variety. I asked a "fruit tree expert" at a pretty respectable nursery here about the two varieties. She said that she had never heard of a kadota fig.

There is one tree that I was told was a banana fig with a pink center. But it was too late to see the fruit. I plan to get cuttings this winter to add to my test.


Cliff H.

Wow, thanks! I will add this tree to the testing. I am hoping that I can eventually start providing a true Banana fig to those that want one.


BTW - All the Chico Strawberry cuttings have rooted and are doing well...

Cliff

Banane fig is a LDA synonim..

I have one huge Kadota fig and. 2 Banana fig trees. Mine are not the same. My Kadota fig is a honey fig and larger. My Banana fig has a different flavor. I will be planting both in my yard next weekend. Banana Figs are smaller fruits without a honey flavor.

Glad you got them going. Cant wait to see a ripe on to see if it is Chico strawberry like everyone says.

What is LDA FIG

LDA = Longue D'Aout

Banana Fig is not a LDA synonym. The Banana fig is a synonym for Kadota. Years back, Joseph Hood (JH) did a great comparative between the Banana fig and Kadota and found no difference in both varieties. I did the same and had similar observations.

Unfortunately many nurseries here in Texas sell Kadotas, labeled as "Banana Fig" trees. I have also seen this mis-labeling on trees from wholesale growers in south Louisiana. Which is causing much of the confusion, and is the most likely reason for the results you mentioned.

But there is supposed to be a true Banana fig. It is described as, "A medium size yellow fig with pale strawberry flesh. Very sweet, full flavor, no bitterness, closed eye, but will split if not harvested when ripe. Low spreading tree, but can also grow tall, so prune to the size you want.... Grown in Seabrook, Texas since around 1910."

This doesn't sound like a Kadota to me. Not with the pink flesh and closed eye. This is the tree that I am hoping to find.

Elin is right about Banana gig being an LdA synonym,here in the old world there is some confusion,Banana/Banane seems to be given as a synonym for LdA and Jerusalem fig by some sources.I have a couple of small 'Jerusalem' fig plants which haven't fruited yet,they may be LdA but I should find out soon.Banana fig here is probably more of a descriptive name for a long fig than a true varietal name.

In the states Banana fig from what I have on the forum seems to be referring to the colour rather than the length of the fig,so probably not LdA.I do hope that the mystery gets solved one way or another.Maybe there is a fig variety 'called' Banana because of its colour,but whatever it is,if it does exist,unless it's in an area with the wasp or came out of a breeding programme it is likely a discriptive synonym for something else that originated in the old world.

Like with any fig,there is a possibility that nurseries started selling Kadota as Banana in error/an act of dishonesty or ignorance and that there is a real fig behind the confusion