Taking kiddies to the queens zoo today and my 5 year old spots a fig tree in a yard next to where we parked. The guy was in his garden and I tried to ask him what kind of fig. He kept nodding and pointing to his mouth. I kept saying fig but he didn't even seem to recognize the word. He finally walked over, pulled one off and said eat eat.

One of my first fresh figs and it was great. Berry with a slight hint of cucumber and melon. I didn't eat the skin. Any ideas as to what it could be? It was small, a little bigger than a cherry. The tree had a few leaves that were barely 3 lobed and mostly 5 lobed.

Hi Figinqueens,
Hard to say, but if I had to say something, by the shape, size and color a celeste .
At the base of the tree, those stems seem to be root-suckers ... handy for propagating a non grafted fig-tree ...

Good going! Most likely an unknown ethnic fig.

The leaves look more like a C Hardy or a mission tree! The shape of the fruit looks kinda like a Celeste but I doubt it is one! The read pulp and taste description (cucumber taste IMO is typical of a not properly ripened fig)also point at CH or another Aetna fig! Good call Rafaelissimo!

I think Rafael is on target as UNK, being from NY, he must have experience seeing ethnic figs.

Here's the problem, as I see it: most of us are collecting unique, particular figs with identifiable characteristics. Most ethnic figs do not match these known figs. Most of the time they are less remarkable, and less readily identifiable figs. Occasionally, there will be a local standout, like Coop's Dominick or Rui's Attilio, or George's Maltese figs. All those are ethnic figs located by forum members. But the chances of finding a local match in an ethnic neighborhood in Queens or Toronto or Philadelphia are slim-and not just because those "forgotten" figs were "rediscovered" by collectors. In fact, just the opposite. Immigrants probably have untold dozens or hundreds of different ethnic figs in the U.S. alone. If every village in Italy has different mutations of figs, that alone would make for over a hundred. And what about every other ethnic group from the entire mediterranean and middle eastern areas that have also brought many figs to the US? There are just A LOT of unknowns. If its good, people will propagate it, and share it. Sermon finita est.