Anybody know where I can buy some Improved Celeste cuttings now? For some reason it's one of the few ones I failed to root. As a second choice I would be willing to buy a plant. I am not looking for a gift.

I have a large tree of o'Rorke aka improved celeste

Richie thank you. But I need Improved Celeste-Not O' Rourke. I can hear the groans coming out of the gallery. "Oh no, not this argument again" LOL

Yes it is the same. Heard it from doctor johnson him self in person at the field. Have paper work i can take a pic of and,show you also from the lsu ag center were i received it at the fig feild. Argument on. ! Lol.

Read it. AND LEARN. LOL. NOW DO YOU BELIEVE. JUST KIDDING BUT IM RIGHT

Here is a digital copy

Well. This is an old and exhausting argument. Kinda like "Who's on 1st". But if what you have is the O'Rourke it is not the one I am looking for. I do appreciate the offer though.

I have a couple rooting now. If they pull through I can send you one.  There are several "improved celestes" but I know which one you are talking about. Just PM me in a couple weeks to check or if someone else helps you first.

Ok show me a pic of this improved celeste. Just curious. Is it lsu tiger. Champagne.

Richie, I wish I could but I got the cuttings from James (Greenfin) and I do not have a "mother" tree yet.  From what I understand it is the variety with single and tri-lobed leaves and is most likely the variety referenced here: http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/lsu-improved-celeste-the-leaves-5440940?trail=

Hope that makes it clear as mud... errr uh... water yea

If I have another extra to take root, do you want me to send it your way?

Yes please. Unless its lsu tiger. Which i have. Tiger has big single and tri lobed leaves. Fruit is a pale amber color with very light stripes that are hard to see. I have some pics somewhere. Lol. Thanks for the offer would love a cutting to compair. I have all the fig trees presently at the lsu ag center fig research center field. Just would like to know which one it is. I really did get that paper work from dr. Johnson. A scientist that works specifically in the fig field. Confusing

Ok i see that its not tiger tiger has both single and tri lobed leaves but its a pale yellow with red stripes. So i need this variety ya are talking about. Thanks guys for clearing this up. Its funny how figs get named and confused with one another even though they came from the same university.

OK I'm confused.
Richie made a convincing argument that O'Rourke and Improved Celeste are the same yet Blackfoot knows this is not the improved celeste he is looking for.

Blackfoot can you explain how the one you want is different?

Of course I cannot speak for Blackfoot, but here is what I understand happened from reading all over.  I could be wrong here, but this is what I have gathered.  I know that there were a number of unofficial released varieties bearing the name "improved Celeste".  They were all an attempt to improve upon the Celeste, but were different cultivars. The O'Rourke was an official release that was another improved variety coming from Celeste's linage supposedly. The leaves have 5 lobes and 3 lobes, produces a fruit with a tight eye, amber flesh and a long neck, and it really looks nothing like Celeste.  Out of the other "improved" Celeste varieties, there is one particular cultivar that seems to stand out.  It is the one referenced above.

Pino: There are a lot of posts about this so I am only drawing from what I have read. The Improved Celeste, although it came out of the LSU breeding program was never officially released. It was not named "Improved Celeste" by LSU. OK, so now. we have to remember that any fig which had Celeste as a parent and was considered improved compared to Celeste could be considered an improved Celeste. Notice the caps. There is where all the confusion comes in.

There are a number of improved Celestes, O'Rourke being one of them. But there is  a fig, however it got named. that is Improved Celeste(O'Rourke not) which is a different fig. If you're not confused yet....I am.

Just fruits and exotics nursery has improved celeste.

Thanks Grant. I have heard that what they represent as Improved Celeste is actually Improved Celeste, But, I have a couple coming at this point. Thank you though.

This is lsu tiger improved celeste. Lol. Couldn't help myself. ;)

One of our fellow collectors, mountainfigs, has a really nice article about Improved Celeste vs O'Rourke here: https://mountainfigs.net/answers/orourke-and-improved-celeste-2-distinct-cultivars/

I used that article as the reference for identifying my tree, which came to me mislabeled as ordinary Celeste.

I'm growing LSU Tiger right beside IC in my outdoor orchard, and the LSU Tiger made figs that were more spherical than the IC's figs.  Both were vigorous and productive, which made them both winners imo.  But the LSU Tiger had an eye that was a little bit more open, so it had a little more trouble with ants getting inside and causing spoilage.  

Greenfin. Tha k you for that revealing article. So my in ground orourke looks like it is actually improved celeste. The fruit pulp is more of a amber yellow The color of my fig is a dark red purple which is also improved celeste going by the link. I will go to the lsu field maybe next sunday and get a few cuttings from the tree with the metal tag on the trunk that is marked O'Rorke and grow it and see the fruit. Well i can wait and pick fruit from it and take pics of fruit and metal dog tag on it as,well of the leaves. There is a tree in the field with a dog tag marked celeste. Maybe it says I- celeste I will check it out too.

My fruit on my tree looks just l7ke the first pic which the article says its improved celeste. Second pic is orourke.

Here's my IC, it's just like that 1st pic from JF&E (the fig on the right here is a little squarer than usual, they're usually more teardrop-shaped than that) :

Oh man!!!! Not this topic again!  I thought we buried this years ago!

Ah ha ha ha. I was waiting for this reaction from one of the veterans! Wouldn't be a complete thread without it.