I got this tree last year and it is supposed to be an LSU purple tree... the figlets have not ripened yet but there is absolutely no purple in them. The leaf shape also seems to be different from pics I have seen of lsu purple leaves. I have read that the leaf shape can vary when they are younger but this tree's leaf shapes are pretty uniform and consistent. Can anyone recognize this leaf shape? Its very pretty leaf but id like to figure out what it is (or is not).. thanks,

I'm not an expert, but was gonna say by looking at the leaves it could still be Lsu purple but then I looked at your little green figs and on my tree the green figs have a little bit of red on the eye unlike yours. Hopefully someone else can chime in with a little better info.

Dunno, Tina. LSU Purple can be highly variant in leaf shape (especially in their first few months...anywhere from single lobed to the a sort of T-shaped MtEtna type leaf), but my dominant leaf looks like this--broad-lobed. Your figlets also look more turbinate (flattened heads) than mine. LSU Purple figs are generally very much a stereotypical pyriform shape.  Your looks healthy and productive at any rate. Hope it gives you some great figs! 

 

Hard to tell at this stage but I am betting it is not LSU Purple

This is definitely not LSU Purple.Not only are the leaves wrong, but the shape of the fruit is wrong.

This is the leaves on my Lsu purple from el, had another from becnel nursery which looked rick's leaves
 

My LSU Purple looks exactly like the photos posted by Quackmaster.

Joe you must have the EL strain also, the leaves on an EL Lsu purple stand out. my first Lsu purple came from Saxon becnel nursery and the leaves looked like the ones Rick posted. According to Dan down here in La there are 2 strains of Lsu purple, the figs look the same but one has a  tightly closed eye and the other has an eye that just barely opens.

For what it is worth, the leaves on my LSU P look exactly like Rick's. And the growing fruit is far more pyriform than turbanate, which implies that it is a LSU P. Either way, it is the fruit taste that counts!

Aloha, everyone.  In no way am I declaring that I'm any sort of fig expert, but my LSU Purple, although still in it's infancy stages, looks a lot like Ryan's.  Then again, like Joe said, might not be what its supposed to be.



Nate

Joe...

Guessing we have the same LSU purple strain if you got yours at Cofer's.  I was worried for a minute that I had some other random fig...my leaves are definitely mostly single lobed, and aren't nearly that dark shade of green (FMV I'm thinking?).  Doesn't seem to slow the tree down though....

Either way it's productive and delicious.

Leaf variation in LSU Purple (all pics are from either the parent tree or cuttings from same tree. The more longer, more defined lobes are from 1st year cuttings in pots, the T-shaped Hardy Chicago looking leaves are from suckers, and the rest are variants in the parent tree. Source: Petals from the Past c. 2004?) The main difference between mine and Tina's first pic, is mine has 3 lobes w/ two well-formed thumbs. Never 5-lobes + 2 thumbs. Just an observation. That said, the nature of a breeding program suggests there are likely several variants of the LSUPurple (plus likely numerous others in a spectrum between Purple and the other LSU Black variants). http://s173.photobucket.com/user/rcomerbhamal/library/LSU%20Purple%20Leaf%20variation%20-%20PftP

Thanks so much, everyone for all your input and pictures!! I guess I can be sure that these little guys will not be turning purple. The purple and darker figs just look prettier and tastier to me than the green ones- especially when they are red inside. Maybe these ones will change my mind :)

Hi tandmadd,
Depending on ... sun, dirt, temps, greenhouse Y/N, age of the tree ... the shape of the leaves can vary.
Depending on your camera, the colors we see might not be true to the real color of the tree.
I would wait to get ripe fruit to see if the fruit is consistent to what it is supposed to be.
And even if it is not LSUP, it could be a good strain to have .
My Brownturkey has light green colored leaves like that and the figs are supposed to get brownish - so you could still get purple figs.
Keep us updated :) .

I was going to compare the leaves to my LSU Purple.  But last year, I had concerns about it really being an LSU Purple. It came from Ison's Nursery 1.5 years ago. The fruit looked wrong, but they all dropped before ripening.  This year, all the breabas dropped (I thought).  This morning, I found a breaba hidding under a leave.  It was kind of sunken in on one side and completely yellow, so I figured it was bad.  Tore it open and it was juicy and dark amber/brown inside. Tasted test... it was pretty good!  It didn't last long enough for a photoshoot.

So.. mine is definitely not an LSU Purple and this post adds nothing of value to this thread.  Move along, nothing to see here.

hmm.. I wonder what my Celeste really is that I got from Ison's.

Welcome to the LSU Purple NOT club! The very first fig tree I bought was labeled LSU Purple, and it turned out to be a green fig. I also tend to prefer the richness of darker figs, but so far this one has been my favorite. The nursery it initially came from said it might be an LSU Gold, but I've heard so many negative things about that strain that I just call it my Unknown Peach Martini. Next LSU Purple... nope. I went ahead and bought a tissue culture LSU Purple after that, and while it has grown quite a bit, still no fruit to tell. Tried to get another mature one... another failure. At least, this one will be going to a friend who intends on making a fig beer. Finally, earlier this year I picked up one that originated from Ison's and has leafed out nicely, but no fruit yet either. So, 3/5 are definite nos, 2/5 are still possible. Though, James, now you have me concerned!

At the time I ordered that from Ison's, I didn't think there was any green figs listed on there.  They have Ischia green listed now, but it doesn't look like that either.

Joe, sounds good, keep me updated!

jdsfrance , I didnt know that lighter fig trees tend to have lighter leaves. Im glad to hear that because I was wondering if it was lacking in nutrition..
James, I am glad to hear that yours passed the taste test- I hope mine does too.
Tamar, Good luck!  I hope atleast  one of those 2 are LSU purples- and that their taste was well worth the perseverance. 
I guess this is a fairly normal thing- I also have 2 violet de bordeaux trees whos leaves look nothing alike..
Ill be happy if the figs taste good.. *keeping my fingers crossed*

For those of us in north central Alabama (and I'd suspect the ATL area as well), a good LSU Purple is a magnificent thing to have. Sorry to keep chiming in, but I love this tree so much...such a sturdy, headache-free plant. Mine doesn't display any FMV (which I suspect may make it better equipped to handle the stress of our erratic weather). Began to fruit as an in-ground tree at age 3. But worth the wait. At age 5 we canned 30 (!!!) pints of fig preserves from the one tree. Production volume may vary, but fruit quality remains consistent year to year. This year, it displayed very little die-back, which surprised me. Now, at around 9-10 y/o it's an 8-trunk monstrosity and will have plenty of cuttings to share in the fall (our production season for LSUP ends by first of September). PM me around that time if you are still looking. Happy to share.  Although keeping them alive all winter was a chore, rooting fresh-cut cuttings in the fall gave me close to 100% success with this one. 

Hi Rick,
I will definitely msg you this fall- Thank you for the offer! I would be happy to send you cuttings as well- [my atreano and verte are still very young (i got them last week!), and my black mission seems to be strangely leafing (i mean only a few but huge gigantic leaves) but not really any branching.. but the others should  have some branches this fall]. 
you've convinced me to give this one another 4 years.. I tried a couple of the panache and vdb figs last year and they were amazing! I am really looking forward to their taste in 4 years..