Received this beautiful fig from a generous donor several seasons ago labeled "Melanzana". This year surprised me with a keeper fig. Very productive, rich, and producing large, meaty brebas. Melanzana seems to be a common name describing several Italian fig varieties. Some round in shape and others elongated. I had a totally different variety years back that would drop its fruit and so I discarded the tree. Another forum member has offered to share yet a different Melanzana fig with me and so it will be interesting to see the differences.

         

Hi Leon, is this a Melanzana Calabrese? Or just Melanzana...are they different varieties?

In any case, you got a gorgeous tree there and what a productive plant altogether. Nice job raising it :)

Thank You Leon for Posting, They Look Delicious, Great Photography also. How was the taste..???

Leon: Very nice tree and photos, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

Wow..very nice

Armando, the taste is a rich, sweet fig taste.
Aaron, I received it as just "Melanzana"- perhaps due to the "eggplant" color of the fig. This is the third year I have had this tree.
Last year the brebas were smaller and dark purple, but still rich in flavor.

It's got to be a different variety than MC because MC i have seen always have pink interiors and the shapes are more elongated that round.
Nevertheless it's a gorgeous fig you got there.

Leon, it's great to see you posting photos of figs - keep 'em coming! :)

That's a beautiful fig, Leon. I like the ones that have that blue-gray color. Nice to know that it's tasty as well.

Hi leon_edmond,
Nice fig. I like the color of the interior of the fig.
Showing photos of the leaves would help members compare their own trees with yours .
I don't have that strain (available) here .
Is that a cold hardy strain ?

Thanks for sharing Leon, this is a beautiful fig and some beautiful pictures, did you get to try the main crop last year? If you did, how did it compare to the brebas?

Hi Leon.
That's a great looking fig.
I'm still waiting for my first fig of the year.
Enjoy.
Vito

whatever type of melanzana you v got it looks great.  Drooling here

Beautiful fig and excellent pictures , thanks for sharing Leon.

Very nice looking fig. I hope my Melanzana turns out to be the same.

Last year the main crop figs were smaller than the brebas. It will be interesting to see how they size up this year. The flavor of the main crop last year was as good as the breba figs. 
I will try to post some photos of the leaves. Thank you all for your kind comments.

Gorgeous.

Here are the leaves from this "Melanzana" tree. I tried to take the three most common shaped leaves on the tree. If anyone recognizes this as a different named variety, please come forward.

Leon, very nice looking brebas. 
Curious when did your main crop Melanzana Tonda ripen?

Most of the main crop did not ripen in 2014- they fell off! Of the few that I got to taste, they were as good as the brebas. I have since removed this variety from my collection because of the tendency to drop fruit. It was a tough decision because the flavor of the fig is so good.

Thanks for the info Leon.  Too bad about the tendency to drop main crop figs given how loaded it is.
That aside would you say it is a late, middle or early ripening fig?

Pino:

Brebas started to ripen first week of July. Main crop second week of August. 

What a gorgeous fig.