Here is the mother of all black figs in my book....Black Maderia!   These pics were taken at UC Davis last year.  The figs were totally amazing!  Very sweet, unique flavor, I give it a score of 10 out of 10 in flavor, sweetness, and taste.  Notice the tree at UCD is a very small tree, dwarf.  This is one reason why many fig collectors do not get cuttings from this tree and also because everybody is asking for the same cuttings.  If I remember correctly, there are 2 of these at UCDs, on the A side and B side.  I took my pics in sequence by capturing a photo of the placard first, then the tree, then the fruit.  As I tasted the fruit, I wrote down comments in a note book on how they taste.  These figs make you thank God for an awesome fig!

Enjoy!

Beautiful! It is the Holy Grail for most of us.

amazing pictures.. the figs look like they are frosted.. awesome..

pete

John, If we had the wasp in NC, there are so many other figs that would come close to the BM.  Zidi and a few others come close and the Black Mission was right there too and it does not need the wasp!

Another fig that does not need a wasp but can compete with BM is Smith.  I picked up several from Dalton in February.  It is another one of my favorites!

I picked up a Mission from Lowe's this year. It is getting tiny figlets and has me excited.

I have heard people refer to Smith here occasionally, but I am not familiar with it. Do you have a link to Dalton? I'm going to have to check it out.

No wasps here in NC, but the climate sure is nice for figs, especially here along the coast. I used to live in NE Ohio, which definitely limited my range of things to grow.

http://www.durionursery.biz/

Excellent pictures, Dennis! Did you happen to find out how old this tree is?

Thanks for the link. They are sold out of Smith, but that Native Black sounds interesting.

Hey John, be very careful buying trees from Lowes or HD.  They will list a tree as "Mission" and you will learn later the next year of so that it's a Brown Turkey or Celeste.  So, I hope yours is truly a Black Mission.  I recommend planting it in a pot until next year and see what it turns out to be.  It helps to know the leaf pattern of figs when shopping for trees for those places.  I bought one last year from HD.  It was labled "Mission"  But the leaves were identical to Celeste and I knew it wasn't Mission.  Sure enough, later that summer it produced about 20 figs and grew over 6 feet tall.  I was going to return it but the figs were awesome so I kept the tree and planted it in my orchard last week.  I did get 3 true Mission figs from Lowes 2 years ago.  They turned out to be true mission fig trees.  They are in pots today and did fruit last year.  So, just be careful buying trees from local places that have no clue what things are other than the name on the label which could be anything.

Hey Cecil, do you have a Smith?  I know it will do excellent in your climate.

Hello Dennis,

The 'Mission' I purchased at the beginning of the year turned out to be a VdB. The top elastic label said Mission, but the grower's tag beneath said Violette de Bordeaux. The leaves are the same as the VdB I purchased at EL - Not yet having noticed I already had one. Oh well. :)

I'm hoping the Mission cuttings I subsequently got on ebay from an unknown seller are indeed Mission.

Yep, unless I get it from someone here, I tend to take the tag as more of an assumed identity until it produces. We shall see. The Lowe's "Mission" is doing well in its pot. Only time will tell if it is a true Mission. I had one a few years ago that I got from a cutting off of eBay. It was a lovely plant, just not Mission. Buyer beware.

Dennis, Thanks for the post/photos--my mouth is watering! It's nice to see where my little UCD Black Madeira came from, and to see how much the foliage is starting to resemble Mama's. Hopefully the figs won't be too far behind.

Dennis your holding back Babe.
I know you have a ton of UcDavis pics now lets get em posted !!!
Thats is when you have the time... ; )

I also have that Madeira and look forward to getting more fruit this season than last season.

Those fig are gorgeous! I find myself drifting more and more to the dark side.. of figs. Love the mouth-watering look of those really dark ones.

Glad someone else understands the quality of dark figs.
Gina just get rid of the white types im sure there are some forum members that would like em just dont ask me.     ROFL

I KILLED MY MADEIRA!! (Marius gave me one) and it sprouted! but after I came back home after four days, my precious Madeira rotted at the bottom of the soil. I shoved it in potting soil :-( cried like a baby! "nooooooo!"  still hurts..(urgh- I'm a murder). Anyway, I love the picture! I never tasted one, your very lucky. The only type of fig I have ever tried is from Costco- the one that comes in a tray, I don't even know what variety it was. I'm from Guam, I live in Nampa Idaho. I'm have a miniature jungle t my apartment. Twigs and trees everywhere. One day, I will try again. Anyway beautiful tree beautiful picture. Thank you for sharing

Thank you Dennis for the photos.That is the most beautifulist fig I've ever seen.I have a Preto and my leaves look very identical to Black Madiera.I hope the fig looks and tastes like BM also.Thanks for sharing.

That tree has beautiful healthy looking leaves.  Mine is still showing heavy FMV effects with nice "two-toned" leaves.  I do feel fortunate that my one cutting rooted and is actively (but slowly) growing, so I won't complain.

I find the really dark figs totally intoxicating...

But... I'll also keep an open mind about the light colored ones too - though they definitely aren't as pretty to my eye.

My current goal is to grow and taste many kinds of figs, even the light ones. I'm planning on drying many and I doubt original color will affect end flavor too much - though the dry, dark Mission figs are prettier than the those dry brown ones.

Black Maderia is one I want to grow too - gonna ask for it in my UCDavis order. :)

Glad I have an acre on a warm hill.

Ok, you're right....sorry Martin....hehehehe. I am holding back. You can expect more pics later on this evening.

Cecil, I'll start an air-layer for you. I'll contact you this Fall and send it to you. I have to confess, I bought just about all of Dalton's Smith trees during my visit in February.

So sorry Jennifer. Those Costco fig give figs a bad rap b/c those are California Brown Turkey fig and they are very bland bad tasting and picked before they are ripe.

Hey Gina, my wife is on the dark side with Martin and Vader. She thinks black figs are richer in flavor. However, she did not think BM was that great. But she loves, LSU Black aka Scott's Black, Kathleen Black and Gino's. She also thought Smith taste better than Black Maderia.

Great pictures, now if I can find a paper towel to dry my key board.

Dennis