If you ask anyone in Portugal to name a fig variety the answer, almost inevitably, will be - Pingo de Mel. It the most well know variety over here - at least by name.

The problem is with the synonyms. Some say, its the same as Moscatel Branco, others that this is an entirely different variety.

I'm also confused. A few years ago i bought a fig tree labeled Moscatel Branco. It produces an excellent honey flavored fig with an amber pulp that is ripe in early September where i am.
Some years this is a problem because, with the first rains, the wonderful flavor of the fig is almost entirely washed away.

In one of my "walkabouts", trying to find a caprifig tree, i've spotted, in a farm a few miles from here, a tree with big white figs - the classic Pingo de Mel fig. So i picked up some to photograph and compare with mine (they where over the wall and no one was home, so i didn't ask permission).

Pingo de Mel tree - these figs are not pollinated by wasps - all the seeds float:

            



In the abandoned piece of land nearby, there is another Moscatel, that i have still to taste. The only photos i have are of the immature fig, but the pulp seems to have a redish hue.

      



My Moscatel Branco is still far from being ripe - so it seems that, at least, they are different from Pingo de Mel in the maturation date.

        


The 3 figs in comparison - only the Pingo de Mel is ripe and my Moscatel Branco (center fig) seems the most immature:


      

In a few weeks i hope to sample some ripe Moscatel and make a final comparison.

Meanwhile, i will have to eat other fruits, because a man can't leave on figs alone - here's some of my blood peaches to color the post.
2 Portuguese - "Preto Carnudo" and "Vinhateiro Português" - they look almost identical, but they have a different taste, and a french peach - "Sanguine Vigneuse":

      

Hi Jsacadura,
Nice pics.
The first problem will be to have a reference to compare the trees to.
Pingo de mel is supposed to have a drop of honey at the eye when ripe, supposedly if that helps :) .
Keep us posted when the figs are ripe.

Hi jdsfrance,

Thanks for your comment.

I believe the first Pingo de Mel, the one i found on a nearby farm, is the "traditional" most common strain of this cultivar. 
The drop of honey should be more frequent in places where the wasps have access to the fig with the resulting increment in internal juices - so frequent, in Francisco's figs photos.

He has placed a few photos of Pingo de Mel in Algarve last month:
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/pingo-de-mel-main-crop-7519266?highlight=pingo+de+mel&pid=1288067058#post1288067058

The problem is in the contradictory descriptions in different bibliography regarding this cultivar.

They are, sometimes quite different, stating amber pulp, red pulp, etc, and mentioning Moscatel Branco as a synonym when, sometimes, it could very well be regarded has a different variety - specially the strains that have different maturation dates and pulp color.

In a recent recollection and identification work of some cultivars of Algarve (2011) (http://pt.slideshare.net/armindorosa/figueiras-ceat), they identified Moscatel and Pingo de Mel has different varieties:

    

According to Francisco, this work has some errors, so i don't know it's accuracy regarding these 2 strains/varieties...

My problem lies with the maturation dates, they mention both varieties starting maturation at the end of July.


The Pingo de Mel in the farm, a few miles from here, are already ripening - some where ripe 4 weeks ago. My Moscatel? figs won't be ripe until the second week of September.
Even considering the climatic difference between here and Algarve, it's way off. So what do i have?

As nelson20vt, so eloquently stated in a topic about Pingo de Mel, a few years back, this a very complicated variety to pinpoint.

I will keep you posted when i have photos of the ripe figs.

My Moscatel Branco figs are almost ripe. Soon i will taste my first Moscatel of 2015 - i can't wait. It's a delicious fig.

Meanwhile, the Pingo de Mel tree from my neighbor has almost no figs on the tree and the first figs where ripe almost a month ago.

The majority of my figs are elongated and the Pingo de Mel where almost all round. I will post comparison photos of the figs (pulp) in a few days.

           

Here they are finally ripe - my Moscatel Branco fig. These are the first ones and they will keep coming throughout September - i hope it doesn't rain much in September as this fig doesn't resist well the water.

I think it can be called a strain of Pingo de Mel, but i wouldn't call it a synonym. To me, the figs don't have the same aspect, taste and maturation date. Also, I have never saw one of mine dripping honey, like happens with Pingo de Mel from others forum members - photos in this topic.

         


I still managed to find one of the last Pingo de Mel from another tree to photograph (still not ripe curiously) and here they are, side by side:

    

It seems Kadota is very similar to this one...

I'm Glad you brought this topic up Jaime. I believe the majority of all the Bêbera branca figs in Madeira are moscatel Branco. They are green to greenish yellow with carmine pulp
To reddish pulp. Majority of the Pingo de Mel figs have lighter coloured pulps atleast usually.

i also had 2 moscatel Branco trees from braga and Porto but had Amber pulp and were closer to a lattarula in appearance but ripened earlier.

Your moscatel Branco looks like my great grandfathers bêbera branca or atleast as it is called locally in Madeira.

Nelson

Hi Nelson,

Thanks for your comment. I have also noticed that are several strains of Moscatel Branco, some with a greener skin that doesn't turn yellow when they are fully ripe. If they named this one Bebera Branca in Madeira, that just had to the confusion - it's a very different variety as Francisco showed us many times with their excellent photos.

In the abandoned piece of land i mentioned in another thread, the Moscatel Branco i picked there, still has a green skin when ripe and is very sweet:
       

By comparison my strain has a much yellower skin, that is more sensitive to sunburn, when ripe (they have exactly the same exposure to sun):

  

Both have a quite tough but very sweet skin, that complements wonderfully their extremely sweet flavour (they are honey sugar bombs).
Here's my afternoon treat, greek yogurt with fig pieces:

  

My Moscatel Branco tree is still going strong. Unlike other years the figs keep coming and are showing some resistance to the rains we are having.
Despite the water, the flavour hasn't suffered. They are still as good as ever.
        

In the last few weeks i was able to collect many dozens. Not enough sun to dry them though. I will try to use the oven - let's see how that goes.