Is it because it's a young tree? How long does it take to turn black? It feels ready to pick, but not the right color. 

Sometimes fig labels get mixed up at the nurseries, and what you think you have turns out to be something else. 

Looks like a nice fig though!

A couple forum members purchased Italian Honey trees from an online nursery about 4 years ago, and we were happy to discover that they sent us both Violette De Bordeaux!

Enjoy!
Suzi

I love figs thats skin cracks

Nice looking ripe fig!  But it is not a Black Mission.  How does it taste? 

It definitely looks ripe, and the color doesn't look at all like my Black Mission. I'm guessing it was mislabeled.

Oh man... mislabeled! It's much bigger than my celeste figs, and it's super sweet! Let me attach a photo of the inside. Any idea what it might be??

Sometimes a combination of a leaf photo and the inside of the fig can help the experts here with ID.  It's not a black fig, and it's not a green or white fig, so the mystery continues. 

Does it taste figgy, or like a fig mixed with a fruit?

This might be helpful.
or This

Suzi

Looks like a giant Celeste

Most likely a hybrid of Celeste,produced from a caprified Breba fruit in California by Wholesaler.
It is much profitable to grow plants from fertile seeds,because making them from cutting it takes too much labor,and so ,that is what they do.
It will take a few years till buyer finds out ,that the tree is not what they bought, so till then all evidence of wrong doing is lost.
You are lucky to get a real fruiting female,that does not need pollination ,by chance.
Other people get males caprifigs,or female trees that needs caprification ,and so they wait for many,many years for the plant to fruit,possible keeping the tag saying Mission fig,on tree.
At the end ,the owner moves,or dies,or the tree dies or is removed because of frustration,of Waiting.
It is a sad story that is unfortunately very common.
Like I said you are lucky so enjoy your new tree.
If you want a Mission fig,buy it from someone that can atest it is made from a piece of Wood ,coming from a Mission tree,that he can show you evidence,pix,of the tree growing in his garden.
This is how Mission fruits should look:

So with that in mind Herman... could it be a Golden Celeste??

True VS.  Black Mission fig trees have a unique leaf pattern.  The figs on my trees do not ripen until August time frame.  I was very lucky to find 2 red tip red vein Black Mission trees from a big nursery chain here in Charlotte.  They were in 5 gallon pots.  SInce it was Fall, I got them for $18 bucks each.  The trees were 4 foot tall but were frost burn in November after we were hit with 25 degree temperatures last year.  I bought 2 of the best looking ones.  I soaked them in root hormone and potted them up.  Today, they look amazing!

I would not assume that it is not a Black Mission. It is light, but there is a fairly wide spectrum of Mission and Black Mission figs.

This is a pretty typical leaf, though they have a fairly wide spectrum as well:



The stems usually are a little pinkish.

Weather, soil,fertilizer and other issues can also affect coloration

Ok.. so I looked up LSU improved Celeste, and I looked up an O'Rourke. The fig looks right, but the leaves look wrong. Any ideas by looking at this leaf??

The Leaves show it is related to Celeste,as it came from a Female Celeste tree,and also show it has nothing to do with Mission.

how big was/are the fruit? Mission figs normally do not turn yellow before ripening.

Unbelievable information in post #9!  Thanks Herman.

So these wholesalers dump all their crap figs on the market, and the retail nurseries snatch them up.  They turn around and sell them at a huge profit.  They win, we loose...and, it sucks.  ( I censored my original, New York/Bronx comments).

figsontheporch....Good luck with your whatever.  If it tastes good, keep it.

Frank

Well, I'll give it a positive spin.  Maybe, since it may have come from a seed, you have a new delicious variety!  Not sure how they prove that, but it's either that, or the labels got mixed up!

Have a great day!
Suzi

It really is super sweet. I'm bummed it's not a Black Mission, but at the same time it's been fun trying to figure out what I have. I didn't think fig trees needed to pollinate. Would this baby tree have a bunch of fruit on it from the giant Celeste I have in the backyard??

Well Frank :Not all wholesaler use this ,fast way to get rich,but ,some do,and that is why we have examples like the above poster,growing a Black Mission,that is something else.
Why I know it is done?.
Well before I knew better,I bought 2 figs from Home Depot,a Celeste and  a Brown Turkey.
The Celeste was  good but it was a Hybrid.
When I posted leaves of my figs ,all responders told me that the fruits look like Celeste But the leaves do not.
I show leaves ,in more than one pix and taken from close to be ID,and all other people that ID,showed me their Celeste Leaves and they were different.
The Brown Turkey,was looking somewhat Like English Brown T,but with smaller fruits that were ,yellow inside ,unlike English B T,and also the taste was insipid.
So That one was in fact an English BT Hybrid.
Then I got a Celeste from Lowes,and made fruits ,twice as large as Celeste with open eye,but they had Celeste look,so that one was another Celeste Hybrid.
Then I got a Brown T,,and a Celeste from Miller Nursery and they made,very small fruits,and use to drop them easy without good reason,WHY: because they were hybrids made from seeds too.
This large nurseries have no control over their stock,and so they can't be held responsible,Yet they should,because it is frustrating for the gardener.
Regulations should be in place as to,Only trees grown on the premisses should be propagated and sold,to gardener,so the nursery will be able to have accuracy when They tag a cultivar.
Without those regulation,gardeners will always have surprises like the above.

Herman...

Thanks for you response, and explanation as to why crappy figs find their way to the market, then, into our yards.

However....nurseries that buy stock from wholesalers should know whether or not the figs they sell are true to type, or, are in fact, inferior hybrids.  After a few years in business, I'm sure they damn well know what wholesalers sell inferior, garbage, and which sell good stock.

So, going by what you say, and depending on where you buy trees, labels could mean nothing.  And what do we do if the tree we have  grown for two years, after purchase, is not the tree that the label says it is?  What garden center will take back inferior stock?....and.... who would want to argue the case with the manager?  They'll tell you that you should've brought the tree back two years ago.  Bottom line....we are either screwed, or, happily surprised.  I don't like those odds.

But...maybe a good fig might be discovered.

Frank

Good Point Frank:My Trees from Home Depot had one year ,guaranty,so I could return them in one year,but they did not fruit in one year,only after the second year of growth.
Large nurseries do not grow the plants to get ripe fruits out of them.
They only buy and resell them,the same year,so it is catch 22,here!

Exactly Herman... Catch 22...

You just hope that you can smile when you finally get to taste the figs...or.... you've just waited to be screwed.  It's one or the other.

Frank

Thank you for all the responses! I'm going to keep the LSU Golden Celeste. I think it's a tasty fig. I've only had it for 4 months and there are figs all over it. I would feel bad returning it. At least now I know what to look for when I buy my next fig tree.