Several years ago a local Italian man, named Aldo, shared cuttings of his fig tree with me. The tree was given to him by his father and originated from a source many years ago in the New York area. About the same time, I received yet another unknown tree from a different friend living in New York who said he was growing a fig from Palermo, Sicily. The two fig varieties turned out to be identical! So came to be Aldo's Palermo Red because of the color of the fig and it's origen. 

This past year I received a Sal's Corleone. To my surprize, the figs it produced, the taste, the growth habit and leaves are all identical to Aldo's Palermo Red.
I credit Salvatore's photos of his Corleone fig and Herman's own observations that support the same conclusion.  Here are pictures of my Palermo Red and Sal's Corleone. They are the same fig!

Palermo Red (Aldo's)






Sal's Corleone

excellent work Leone, now you can have a very good synonym for the Aldo's fig.  Its good to know and good observations, looks the same to me. I only have Corleone, no aldo's. Corleone is in the Province of Palermo, it all tracks down and makes sense. I like these fig mysteries,   Ciao.

Thanks for sharing those pictures and story. I would imagine that there are many of the same varieties with many different names. Those pictures and fruit are beautiful and I hope you enjoyed the flavor as much as I do. I must say that yours look more developed and mature than mine which is first season so I'm looking forward to many more seasons with this one as it is a keeper for me

Who came first?
The chicken or the egg?

Is it
Sal(C) = PR = Aldo?
or is it
Aldo = PR = Sal(C)?

Confusion:
Same figs with different names...
AND
different figs with the same name...

More confusion:
Belleclare's list show Sal(Corleone) as BC#31;
but they also had:
(BC#)103: Sicilian Red-on-Red (Fico Rosso)-Medium red fig with red center. Palermo, Sicily cuttings.

Are these all the same-fig or just fig-cousins?

Same goes for figs originating from the Mt. Etna (Sicily) region,
(aka., the Hardy Chicago and the Sal-BC#39 types).

I think that a sure way of knowing is by DNA analysis, that will eventully
happen within our lifetime - just some more "markers" are needed...

looks very much like my Martin's Unknown too

Is there any chance that the fig and tree pictured in this post could also be a Sal's. I don't know Sal's but the fig and leaf in this post seems pretty close.
"gene"

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3688064&highlight=meade

Way to go Leon - great catch!

I ate a ripe 'Aldo' yesterday (shared it with my 1 year old niece).  It was the best fig I've eaten in a long time, maybe ever.  While the unripe fruit look very much like Leon's pics, as they ripen the color goes almost black.  Also, the fruit on my tree is much smaller (maybe half the size), but the tree was planted late this year.  I'll have to wait until next year to see if the fruit size increase.

~james

Could this be the same?

Gorgi: I agree that DNA is the way to go yet there is no denying the identity of these figs when you compare them side-by-side. As far as names go, maybe keeping it as "Sal's Corleone" is most appropriate. (Aldo's Palermo Red was just my way to label an unknown up to this point). 

Gene: I don't know what to tell you. You're fig looks similar but the difference is your variety looks to have mostly 3-lobe leaves and the inside of the fig looks darker.

James: You are right. The fig darkens as it ripens and becomes a dark maroon to almost black color. The figs do get larger as the tree matures. Although I have not had any brebas on my tree yet, I was told by my friend Aldo that his tree will some years produce brebas the "size of an orange".

Nas: You're fig and the leaf shape looks pretty close if not the same. Would have to see more photos.

HI everybody! Could this be a sal's corleone or aldo or red palermo or...etc,etc...?? Comes 2 years ago from a small town from Italy,called Benevento,20 miles from Naples.Thanks,Marius

no

For those in the know, how is the skin on this fig.  The first two I ate had extremely tender skin.  The third one was coarser and tougher than another fig I've eaten.

thanks,
~james

Hi James, the few I have picked on 1st season tree have been good and the skin is thin and no problems eating skin