These are pictures of a tree on the grounds of Sotterley Plantation in MD. This tree is also part of the historic collection at Monticello. It has been called the Sotterley fig for quite some time but now we are trying to trace down a proper name if one exists.

I have been trying to help Monticello identify figs that could have been at Monticello during Jefferson's life time.

I did not take this pictures and I have no pictures of the figs cut in half. If we don't get anywhere with this post hopefully one of my trees will ripen figs this year.

Does anyone recognize this variety or have any ideas what it might be?

Thank you      .

It looks like a nice fig.  I imagine you would have said this if you know the answer but do you know whether the figs are green/white or dark?  Not that this would help me to identify this fig but it could help someone else.

Steve, If I knew I'd have posted. I guess I'll end up waiting to see if my Sotterleys bear fruit (I have a few brebas) as Sotterley Plantation says there was a lot of damage to a whole spectrum of their plants.

Hi mgginva,
My 2 cents on a brown fig strain: BT .

Interesting read from a folklorist at NC-ChapelHill  http://www.common-place.org/vol-11/no-03/bherman/

jdsfrance, Yup betting on BT is usually a safe bet. The folks at the Center For Historic Plants who gave me the cuttings said it was not a BT. There is a BT in that collection within 10 feet of this plant so I hope they are right as they eat the figs from both plants. It is possible - as I did not take these photos - that these photos are of the wrong plant.

recome20 - as I've been researching figs looking for ones that could have been at Monticello when Jefferson was there I've found some interesting info. Another forum member started all this when he gave me a tree that his family has been working with for a very long time. They wanted someone outside of their family to have a back-up. I was the lucky guy. That tree - the Battaglia Green was once at Folly Castle and his relatives got cuttings decades ago and started writing down (thank goodness) some of the history. Susan Battaglia took one to Paradise Nursery (now closed) in VA and they named it after her. I think it's true name should be the Folly Castle fig, but . . . anyway this is getting long.
If you know of any figs with a history that goes back to before Jefferson's time I'd love to know about them. If the info looks real and I can find the the plant I'll add it to the other figs I'm donating to Monticello later this year.

The last 2 pics are a different tree and it looks like Celeste.

Sounds like a wonderful project, Michael. The article above was interesting because it suggests figs came to the States via the Caribbean earlier than figs were introduced to Britain (meaning Jefferson was not constrained to varieties he discovered while in England and France in 1780s). We do know he (and Adams?) visited the Oxford Botanical Gardens in 1786 while on a diplomatic tour. From a historical perspective, there are several varieties we know would have been in England at the time:  see Sir David Brewster  
the Ischias keep coming up in British texts (particularly the Brown Ischia: do we know what this is? It seems Jefferson mentioned this as well?)

BTW I second Brent's call on the last pic being very much like Celeste. Here's my heirloom Celeste photos to compare (3 lobes with or without thumbs):   

Thanks for the info on Battaglia... I'd never heard that info before. I have a BG on order from Fred at RabbitRidge...think I might need to send him a reminder :)

I think they may have sent photos of three separate trees.
I wrote and am awaiting a reply.

I don't have my notes on this computer so I can't give you the name that's on the tip of my tongue but I chased around a fig I thought was going to qualify as having possibly being at Monticello with Jefferson, but it just seemed to end up being another name for Mission.
I do think St Jean and Yellow Neches probably meet the criteria. There has to be others. I wonder about Vasilika Sika. I just can't address this accurately with at least a quick perusal of my notes but it is interesting. As a matter of fact there is some proof floating around somewhere about Jefferson gifting a fig to folks associated with (at least) the family who owned Folly Castle. He gifted a "white" fig which included the green figs.. Is it possible that in 1793 Jefferson gave a fig that was planted (it was, btw, a huge tree before it was lost) at Folly Castle and survived long enough for it to be saved and protected by the family of our f4f forum member?
Is it possible that this (even in some small way) could throw doubt on the Marseilles having been Jefferson's favorite variety? I have heard doubt as the fig Jefferson called his favorite was not proven to have been a Marseilles.

Both figs were in my top ten last year when I posted my ripening order. I only did 70 trees (I hope to be more comprehensive this year) but still I rated them both excellent. I rated my BG as high as both my CdD B and N. I'm a big fan of the Marseille figs so I may be a bit easy on them, but if Jefferson had the BG and there does seem to be some evidence or at least belief he did (really need my notes here) - can we be completely sure it was in fact a Marseilles fig that he was so fond of?
Well anyway without my notes I'll fall into blathering soon. Thanks for the input folks.
I have 3 Sotterley trees here. They aren't very large considering their age but I hope to get figs from at least one of them as this will be their 3rd summer. None of them are showing brebas.
I hope to get the questions about the photos clarified -- if possible - as they are passing through more hands then is ideal. I hope the tree in question did not get too damaged by our last winter, but if it did at least they have several sources to recover one.

Rick,
In the article by B Herman (thx, btw) in fig #3 at the top in the center is a curious image. Can you decipher it? 

Looks like a butterfly snacking on a split-open Brunswick/Madonna.

Michael this is so very interesting. I look forward to reading more about your project. Love the history of the figs.

Rick,
Wow - your image must have been much clearer then mine. I even used my big ole S Holmes mag glass.

Pattee,
I kind of fell into this historic fig thing and it's been very frustrating. There is a part of the whole thing that's rewarding, but it certainly isn't trying to read the strange and small bleary old fonts. I think the whole fig naming thing is so out of hand it's very destructive. I'm just waiting for the ego maniacs to start naming unknowns after themselves. Trolling old neighborhoods looking for unknown old fig trees so they can glorify themselves. It won't be long. Trying to track down old figs is made harder by the multiple names and dead ends caused by lack of documentation. But it is exciting to come up with old varieties that fit the need and to be able to contribute these to the collection at Monticello. As figs are such a great way to eat sugar and as they are easy to grow I'm still confused as to why they fell out of favor for so long.
Where I live it does seem figs are catching on and folks are buying a lot more fig plants. I'm very excited as I expect to have dozens of new varieties to taste this year.