No one has mentioned the Valle Negra, which I think is a Sicilian fig. Is that Mt Etna type? I am pretty sure Herman's Don Fortissi black is also Mt Etna fig.

Ongoing tentative compilation of Mount Etna or Mount Etna type figs:

Takoma Violet, Dark Portuguese, Marseilles Black, Sal's EL/GS, Salem Dark, Black Bethlehem, Gino's, Unknown #11, Jersey Fig, Martini, Don Fortissi Black, Hardy Chicago, Keddie, Hardy Pittsburgh, Hardy Hartford, GM #11 (Sicilian Dark), Abba, NJ Red, San Donato (Calabria), Dominick's, Macool?, Bari?, Rosetta?, Owensboro?, Hardy Cleveland?, Ginoso? Roundhill? ...

Mongibello may possibly be the earliest known name for the Mount Etna cultivar.

A couple links (from below) with good information on the subject:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0513485811442.html
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0207122622354.html 

how do you define Mt. Etna type? do they have to come from Mt. Etna? is there definite leaf shape like ones on HC?

Pete, check out post #13 and #15.

Pete, see post #13.  There are probably some varieties around that are derived from figs growing on Mt. Etna, and are indeed Mt. Etna figs, but can only be traced back to some other geographic locale (like Takoma Park, MD).

Malta Black,and English Brown Turkey are not MT Etna Type!
Malta B,has three lobes leaves,and English BT,has large redish fruits when ripe,and different leaves.
Also English BT needs longer Summer to ripe.
Malta Black is a better tasting fig compared to all others,and the only common with the others is that is early ripening.

so it has to come from Mt. Etna. but how can we be sure if any of them has come from Mt. Etna? i'm sure some of them can be traced back to Mt. Etna... but most of them will be unknowns that no one can trace back to anywhere but someone's backyard. are we going by the trees hardiness and leaf shape? 

DNA sequence would probably be a good way of resolving whether an unknown fits into the Mt. Etna family.  Hardiness, leaf shape, etc are not so reliable.

i like simple classification.. light fig and dark fig. 

Thanks, Herman2, for the corrections to the Mount Etna fig list.

As for Mount Etna type: What I think of as a Mount Etna type is one that has not necessarily been traced back to Mount Etna but seems to have similar leaf shape, fruit size and color, early ripening, and cold hardy. A tough, early, small dark fig with the typical Mount Etna fig leaf shape. Though Valle Negra is apparently a tough, early, small dark fig, I don't list it as a Mount Etna type because it has a very different (slender finger) leaf shape.

Valle Negra can not be Mt. Etna type even if it wants to. it's from Val Camonica in Lombardy it seems. 

I'd like to point something out.  The whole designation of Mt. Etna type figs began several years back when one forum member said that she had been to the area of Mt. Etna and that Hardy Chicago is typical of the the fig trees that grow wild around the Mt. Etna region.  As far as I know that its the only reason that Hardy Chicago and figs that are similar to it are referred to as Mt. Etna types.  Are we really even sure that Mt. Etna has anything to do with these figs?

As a point of clarification:

I am not saying that the forum member's report was inaccurate.  The figs that grow around Mt. Etna may well be very close to Hardy Chicago.  But does that mean that the original American Hardy Chicago tree came from the Mt Etna area?  What about Dark Portuguese?  It seems to me that these Hardy Chicago types were recognized as really good figs a long time ago and spread around even back in the day.  I think that "Hardy Chicago types" is a better classification for these trees, because that is really what we are talking about.  These are the trees that are similar to Hardy Chicago.

But you yourself say "spread around" -- which implies from an originating point. Best knowledge currently is that that originating point was Mount Etna. Of course not Chicago. That knowledge has been coming from various forum members, nurseries, and apparently Catania University at the base of Mount Etna.

The following thread in particular has a lot of good information:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0513485811442.html

Thanks for the link.  Here is a link to the post that I was referring to:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0207122622354.html

You're right, these figs do have a point of origin in the Old World.  It may well be Mt Etna.  But I think that what we are doing over here in America is basically compiling a list of figs that are similar to Hardy Chicago.

Similar or better than HC, ideally. Multiple reports are that, for example, Marseilles Black and other Mount Etna cultivars are hardier and more productive, and possibly earlier ripening, than Hardy Chicago. Though it seems multiple reports rate HC higher for taste, which accords with my own experience thus far as well.

now.. here is an interesting question. which HC is the real HC? how can we tell they are all same or not? since i heard that HC is a great fig, i searched and asked around and heard that one from now out of business Paradise Nursery is a good one. so i got a HC from a very generous forum member who can source the rooted cutting back to that nursery. but if you look around the internet, you will see number of different reputable nurseries selling HC. are we sure they are all the same? my HC might not be same as someone else's. ok, given more specific shape of leaf and the fig, it's not as bad as trying to match all the Celeste, but i would think this is an exercise in... you know.. by the way DNA test isn't all the definite. they only look at certain markers and we already know that they say two completely different figs are same figs. 

I have added two more Mt. Etna varieties to my own collection that I find to be extraordinary in taste and production:

NJ Red and San Donato (Calabria). I am hoping that Chiapetta (San Vincenzo -Calabria) also turns out to be a Mt. Etna type.

by leaf shape, i think Dominick's fig is similar too. 

Very good -- off the Mount Etna list with Malta Black and English Brown Turkey, and on with these other cultivars, for now... 

I'm trying to compare as many of these apparent Mount Etna cultivars as possible. Hopefully someone with more space can do so more extensively and systematically.

For Hllyhyll and all others-I know Hardy Chicago was named by Fred Born but there have been documented posts that it got to Chicago via Brooklyn, I think that Belleclare had this fig and somebody inherited Belleclare's original notes and posted it on the forum, the original fig was listed as coming from the "Rifugio di Sapienza" which is in fact on Mt. Etna, the picture of the notes is here on the forum somewhere...and as we all know the Sicilian name of this fig "Mongibello" means beautiful mountain, referring to Mt Etna!

Mongibello sounds much nicer than Hardy Chicago. if it was just Chicago, that would have been nice. but with Hardy in front of it.. it's like Hardy Windy. 

I think Angelo's Dark is one of the better My Etna figs, very produtive. And very hardy. It's in the ground in Staten Island NY and has never been protected in the winter.
Vito

Actually the picture of Belleclare Hardy Chicago history was Bullet08's thread on Belleclare Figs but I am sure Pete knew that!
:-)