Very recently,
A good fig-friend of mine gave me some "strange"  (almost)
bone-dried figs. He said that they came from Iran but had
no idea what they were.
After some Googling, it was very obvious that they were Shirazi figs.
They are small sized figs (fitting on a USA nickel coin), and extremely
sweet. Pic shows some of them after an overnight soaking in
water, just before harvesting the seeds.
Heck, even the water was like nectar sweet.
Caution! Do not eat too much (say 6/day), else the
"other-end" may complain (if you know what I mean)!

I have a hunch (but I could be wrong), that these are same/similar to the
F. afghanistanica figs recently available in the USA
(I have 2 from Forest Farms of OR).

I harvested and sowed some seeds. They arrrrre growing!
Looking very forward to see what the next 2nd+++ pairs of leaves look like.
I still have some spare seeds. Anybody willing to experiment
with me, email me privately. Those with any sentimental
reason will be given top priority/preference.

Hope to show more pics later as they grow...

Georgi, I would love to help in the effort.

Gorgi,

I have a number of Indian friends who have often raved about dried "white Iranian" figs and are lamenting that they seem to be unavailable in the U.S. this year.  I've never been able to find them, so I will follow your progress with great interest.

C.J.

George,
I got a Syrian variety that is almost identical to the dried iranian figs you got there. It's called Barada. It comes from a similar climate where the shirazi figs grow. They are small and very sweet.

jenia, When googling "Shirazi Figs", I see that some are
available on the internet. And yes, they are very sweeet.

Bass, Thanks  for the Barada pic. BTW, the twig you gave me
last year on your visit, did root! Knowing me, I already rooted
the tip for a fig-friend that had asked about it. Now I'll just let it fruit.

I just found a "better" site about the Shirazi figs with some
more detail/info. I seems that they are of the F.carica (Smyrna)
type - so not of a very much use for me here in NJ; no fig wasps.
They say that it is a rather localized fig. Some pics of the
trees are also shown, but are too blurry for me to see the
shape of the leaves.
http://www.no-2.com/frame2.htm

Hello,
The Iranian dried fig is a smaller fig when dried (smaller than the Sari Lop from Turkey). It is a Smyrna type, requiring the fig wasp. The most important dried fig variety is named Sabz.

There will be a severe shortage of dried figs from Iran this year due to a bad drought. Here is one article on the topic http://www.jamejamonline.ir/newstext.aspx?newsnum=100915742782 and you can get a translation on Google here http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jamejamonline.ir%2Fnewstext.aspx%3Fnewsnum%3D100915742782&sl=fa&tl=en&swap=1

There is a thread on G.W. that I started a while back when I first started researching figs from Iran. It might be interesting http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg081328505217.html

Ingevald

Yes, Ingevald was who gave me "these" mysterious figs,
after him and wife surprised me with a welcome visit from
out of state and during their long (whereabouts) NE trip.

Sooo, do listen to him too...
Additional info to the "Shirazi" is welcome.
Thanks.

Gorgi and Ingevald,

Thank you for sharing the information on the "white Iranian figs".  Now I can tell my friends why they are so hard to find...and where to get them,

Ingevald,

I read your GW FF thread.  I have the book "Fig Heaven" in case there is anything in particular you want to know about it and haven't  already acquired it.  I bought it from Amazon.com.

Is it possible to do with capri wasps what gardeners do with lady bugs, i.e., buy them and introduce them to a garden for a season?  That assumes, of course, that there is someone who would be willing to raise them on a small scale and sell them for less than a kings ransom.

C.J.

Hello,
I'll provide a short answer here to avoid getting too far off the topic and will send you (Jenia) a private note.

The life cycle of the fig wasp is somewhat complex which, includes some very specialized and exacting parameters. The wasp only lives a very short time after pupating from the larval stage. It is dependent on the caprifig for shelter and food. It needs an environment that does not freeze (not sure of the exact temperature extremes). The timing of the emergence of the wasp with the fig to be caprified is also critical and you would need to learn about the cycles, matching caprifig with the fig to be pollenated. So, putting them in the garden like lady bugs does not work quite the same way.

If you were willing to grow caprifigs, learn about the in-depth requirements, it might be possible to "raise" some fig wasps for an experiment. Having a greenhouse that does not freeze during the winter may make this more feasible for overwintering purposes.

I would recommend spending some time learning about the fascinating life cycle of the wasp before taking on such an undertaking. You might have a better chance of success.

Lastly, there may be sources of caprifigs (containing fig wasps) from California, but that should not be pursued until your other research is completed.

Take care,
Ingevald

Ingevald,
Now I do remember seeing your thread on the other forum,
specially after seeing that tree with the [harvesting] "white skirt".
I guess nothing beats the actual holding/eating of a certain fig to
see the difference. In the same photo album, now I also
see the very clear leaf shapes (3 shallow lobed). This
throws my hunch of them being F.afghanistanica out the
window, which was my primary reason of starting the seeds.
BTW, my hunch was not totally unfounded. Inquiring about
the source of my two beautiful leaved F.a, I was told that
their fruit is rather "small" and that the seeds came from an "Iran region".

Gorgi,

Please don't give up with your Shirazi seedlings.  I am seriously interested n trying to pollinate some caprifigs.  Now actually DOING it is another matter.  I will need a much beter greenhouse than the lousy little thing I have right now.

C.J.

A while back, (I think) that one member on this FF posted a remark about
his/her dad does grow Shirazi figs back home.  I do have plenty seedlings
(still need to be transplanted before $ ship), and some extra (viable) seeds
(just a cheap stamp).

That ONE person, pl contact me (privately) if interested,  nothing better than a fig tree
with some sentimental value attached to it.

As a side note the dried shirazi figs can be easily found at any local Iranian stores in Canada. Someone in Fredericton is also growing them...

Yes, the Shirazi (dried) fig can be bought from the internet.
Very dry small fruit but extremly sweet; try them!

Save some seeds ; they are (very,very) viable.

From the  seeds I have sprouted,  I  noticed that all seedlings
have more-or-less the same exact (young) leaf-shape!:
nice - almost non-lobed, with highly-serrated edges and a pointed tip.
Must be some of them true breeding figs???!!!?

Being a Symyrna type (fig wasp is required - none in NJ), mine were heading compost.
But gone this far, I'll keep 1-3 at least for some years and see what happpens...

Hey Gorgi are the leaves of the shirazi similar to the ficus afghanistanica from forestfarm? I too have a F. Afghanistanica from Forestfarm but the leaves are different than the actual F. Afghanistanica that I have seen on the net.

Just found this nice thread. There are many amazing figs in Shiraz, that is where my family is from. And we are not too far from the best figs in the country grown in "bash" style as I've previously typed up about. You guys impress me with your commitment that you actually germinated the seeds from these!

As far as the Barada, it looks very nice, but these figs are not just dried- they are boneeeeeeee dried. They drop off in size dramatically to get that dry. I think Barada is a smaller variety than that used for drying for this.