G'day from Australia,
                              my interest is in heritage figs imported into this country before 1900. I collect from old gardens and orchards. I live in the centre of our old goldfields. One I'd like help with is a fig with heart-shaped leaves. A Permaculture friend, came across it in a country garden about 30 years ago. It never has lobes. The owner of the garden was in his 90's back then and said that the tree had been there all his life. It is my friend's favourite eating fig. From the beginning of European settlement in this country (1788) there were figs brought from the Canary Islands. The only figs I can find with heart-shaped leaves come from there. I note that some folks on here have Canary Island experience. It's winter here so I can't post pics at the moment. My basic question is, is my theory right or are there other provs. for heart-shaped leaves?
Cheers and happy figgin'  Geoff

G'day Enigma,
                    the Canary Islands was a regular stop for sailing ships on route here from England and it was reported that they had picked up figs from there. The only fig leaf pics I've found with lobeless leaves are from there, so I'm hoping that I might eventually be able to id it.
Cheers Geoff

Hey Geoff, hope that helps.

http://desarrollorurallanzarote.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/higuera_baja.pdf

Thanks Nelson,
                     certainly pics similar to the non-lobed fig I'm talking about. Wish I understood Spanish! I've not been able to find any reference to names being given to the figs brought here from the Canary Islands or if they even had names. Apparently there were figs already on the islands and then the Portuguese introduced more when they colonised them. Thanks Enigma and I will check into the Aussie forum. Cheers  Geoff

Hi Enigma,
               tried to get on to your Aussie site but laptop freezes when I try to prove I'm human. I think I'm still one of the race!
Cheers mate   Geoff

Hi again,
            have now been recognised as human but lacking 'Activation Key'.
Cheers  Geoff

What a shame our Aussie plant nurseries dont keep and sell heritage and rare fig varieties.  I have tried for a long time to source such  in Victoria and Melbourne.

Best of luck Geoff

Panache is in some private gardens here. Try the Heritage Fruit people on Facebook.
Cheers  Geoff

May be you find the link to the Canary Islands figs, consulting this fantastic paper prepared some time ago describing in fine detail and with illustrations, the various current figs growing in the Archipelago. Some are very old.

http://www.icia.es/icia/download/Publicaciones/Higuera.pdf

Francisco

Thanks Francisco, wish I had the language. Terrific descriptions,pics etc, but can't find one with non-lobed leaves. You find the leaf form in descriptors but I've not been able to locate a variety from anywhere. I did come across some pics in the document Nelson put me on to. A bit surprising that they don't describe one in this paper. I'll keep trying.
Cheers  Mate 
Geoff

Geoff,

Have a look on this page:

http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Ficus+palmata

May be you looking for another fig family... (ficus palmata)?
Within the Carica figs there are various types with a percentage of lobeless, heart shaped leaves, but just a percentage..old figs like ´Lampeira Preta'. Pingo de mel',..etc do have an appreciable ammount of those leaves..

Then, you nave the hybrids with Palmate parentage also with practically all lobeless leaves..buth these are not vintage stuff...and some may need pollination (DFIC0023).

Francisco

G'day Francisco,
                       thanks for your help again. Your comments support what I have been able to discover. There appears to be no carica variety which always has entire leaves. I doubt it's one of the hybrids you mention as it was collected about 30 years ago from an old garden in a small country town. The owner, who was then approaching 100, said it had been there all his life. Our figs are beginning to leaf out so I'll post pics of my friend's mature tree. The first leaves on my cuttings are entire. I've come across a few pics of Indian figs (palmata?) with similar shaped leaves and with reasonable sized figs, but have no idea of their eating qualities. My friend regards it as the best eating fig of the 10 or so that she grows.
Cheers  Geoff 

Hybrid 0023 from Encanto (stock #552) has heart shaped leaves. Here is mine I grew from a cutting a few months ago. Growing like a weed.

Thanks for the pics. Interesting leaves! They're a little like the 'Heart' fig, but there's no record of such hybrids in Australia. The 'Heart' plant is much older than these hybrids which I understand are modern. Palmata varieties, however, could have been picked up on the long sailing ship journey to here from Europe. Don't know enough about the eating qualities of palmate varieties.