All,

The info is very scarce for Bournabat. Other than Jon's description and the USDA sheet, the only thing I could find was:

Bournabat: A large, luscious fig with pink, fleshy pulp. Bournabat has the most interesting texture in your mouth – like a stringy marshmallow, only better.

http://www.edibleojai.com/content/index.php/articles/summer-2004.htm

(there is a nice story that this is from called "The Perfect Fig")

Bournabat DFIC 55 Named after the village of Bournabat just to the NE of Smyrna. UC-Davis

http://www.eastcoastfigs.com/orchlist.html

Here is the little guy ... he's looking for your help in understanding who he is and where he comes from.

Bournabat produced a beautiful tree, well branched and sturdy w/ nice dark green leaves.  It lived happily through 7 winters.  It never produced a single fig and went to the trash bin this Spring. 

cmdrzog,

Sorry that it did not do well for you and I appreciate the information (good and bad experiences tell us something). I also did not realize you were in Huntington - I lived near there from my early teens to my early 20's so I know the growing conditions well (my Dad was an avid gardener).

It is a good sized, very nice eating fig. Don't know where the "stringy marshmallow" desription came from. It does drop some fruit, and I have heard rumors and/or suspicions that it may need caprification, which I cannot prove at my location. USDA info only says "unverified".

Thanks Jon. I didn't see it in "Breba New World" so I am assuming it does not set a breba crop. I wonder who else is growing it and if they can comment on the caprification issue.

SteveNJ did not get any response for his question "I wonder who else is growing it and if they can comment on the caprification issue." ?
It is a good question if it needs caprification or not.

See Figs 4 Fun Fig Link 1110 where the USDA author lists it as common. Definitely behaves as a San Pedro or Smyrna type at my location. I get 5-10% that appear to be pollinated - the rest don't develop pulp.

Thanks Jon.
That means the pollinated ones will have different look of the pulp as Nelson found in the fresh figs he purchased and the pollinated ones had differnt look inside.

What I judge to be unpollinated fruit would not be suitable for sale and eating - only the pollinated ones.

Steve,

Article is here:
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/ojai/summer-2004/summer-2004.htm

Sue

It's a nice large fig, with good flavor. I don't remember the flavor standing out among some other varieties when I sampled it at ucdavis last August.

Bass
I am just curious if you have this pretty looking Bournabat fig in your collection?
If not, why not?

Ottawan, I do have it. It is growing slowly for me though no fruit yet.

Greetings I live in SE Georgia HZ 8b.  I planted Bournabat this spring.  It has main crop figs on it, and they are getting good size.  None of them are ripe yet, so I don't know what the pulp is like if there is any.  The folks at Just Fruits and Exotics in N Florida, say it produces high quality fruit for them.  Also, it is one of the faster growing fig trees in my orchard. 

I'm trying to figure out how to post a picture, but I am not sure if I succeeded.  I may need some help with that.  God bless.

Have you seen the tv show Nature "The Queen of Trees?"  Someone posted it on you tube.  Fascinating process how it gets pollinated.  though, it really turns me off to eating figs that need wasps to pollinate it.   I wouldn't want to eat the wasps and possibly the nematodes too that infect the wasps.   

I suspect that we all eat more buggy things than we know.  This said, I'm pretty sure that we don't get the fig wasp here in Georgia.  At least this is what most of the information I've read on the subject indicates.  Consequently if the fig bears fruit for me and it's good eatable fruit, then that would indicate that it does not need the wasp for pollination after all.  Additionally, my hunch is that in areas where you do get the fig wasp, I suspect that the wasps don't care or know which fig varieties need them for pollination and which don't.  I strongly suspect that whether or not a given fig has fig wasps in it or not has less to do with the variety of fig than it does with the part of the world in which the fig was grown.  So if you haf3 eaten California figs, you have prabably eaten a few wasps regardless of the variety of figs you ate.  I suspect that we will all be happyer in life if we don't think too much about things like eating fig wasps with our figs. 

I agree Marcus.

Well, most of the figs I've eaten are from CA so I probably have eaten the wasp.  I think it infected me.  That is why I am addicted.  It has me under control now.  Must grow more fig trees. 

I thought I posted these pics years ago but I guess I did not.  Bournabat is a pretty fat fig at UCD.  I like the taste.  I plan on getting one in a few days.   I want to see how it grows in my climate.  here are a few pics.

enjoy!