One of my favorite Fig issues, "Brown Turkey"!
Here's what Condit gives as a description in "Fig Varieties: A Monograph" (downloadable as a PDF of about 3mb from my website: http://sites.google.com/site/kiwifruitsalad2 )
Descriptions of fruit by Eisen and some other authors are not clear, as they are probably confused with similar varieties. Confusion also exists in some descriptions, as indicated by the two synonyms, Large Blue and Small Blue, with reference to size of fruit. The following description is from specimens grown at Riverside and Fresno, and as compiled from various English accounts.
Leaves small, mostly 3-lobed; upper surface dull; upper sinuses shallow and narrow; base subcordate; margins crenate.
430 Hilgardia [Vol. 23, No. 11
Brebas few, medium, oblique-pyriform, with thick neck that is often curved; stalk up to 1/2 inch long, sometimes swollen toward the body of the fruit; ribs prominent, producing a somewhat corrugated surface; eye medium, open, scales violet-brown; color mahogany brown, tinged with violet; meat white, with violet tinge; pulp strawberry; flavor fairly rich; quality fair. (Plate 21, D.)
Second-crop figs medium or below, turbinate or oblate, mostly without neck; average weight 28 grams; stalk up to 5/8 inch long, often thick and swollen at the apex; ribs present, fairly prominent, more deeply colored than body; eye medium, open, with violet-brown scales; white flecks large, conspicuous, scattered; color auburn to burnt umber; pulp amber to light strawberry, practically seedless; flavor sweet, but not rich; quality fair. (Plate 15,E.)
Caprified figs violet-brown, bloom prominent; average weight 36 grams pulp strawberry; quality only fair. Second crop matures over a long season.
Rogers (1834) stated that if Lee’s Perpetual—bearing fig is “cultivated as it should be—that is, in pots, under glass—it yields fruit nearly all the year round.”
Given Condit's description of "Leaves small, mostly 3-lobed;" I can honestly say that I have never seen a verifiable "Brown Turkey" tree here in the Puget Sound Region nor a single locally grown ripe "Brown Turkey" Fig grown here in my 19 years of Fig growing. It is likely the variety with the greatest amount of name confusion of any Fig.
Even the USDA/UC Davis genetic fingerprinting has shed no light on what the true "Brown Turkey" is, having stated that "Black Jack" & "California Brown Turkey" are synonyms. Problem is that "California Brown Turkey" is properly known as "San Piero" which is distinctly different from "Brown Turkey"! Perhaps one day this confusion might have some light shed on it, but right now it appears to me that the USDA/UC Davis collection has some mislabeled plants in it that were used in the genetic fingerprinting.
Nelson, I look forward to seeing photos including the interior of the fruit when your Figs from these trees ripen.
kiwibob
Seattle