Here's a fig I got from an Italian neighbor early this summer. He brought the mother tree here from Italy five years ago. He didn't know the name and I didn't ask him where in Italy he got it. I started the cutting fairly late in the season, and these pictures show the first fig to ripen. The fruit has a nice flavor and it's pretty sweet for a mid-November fig in Pittsburgh. The tree is extremely vigorous and it ended up outgrowing the rest of the cuttings I started in March. It's slow in hardening off, but the mother tree is in-ground, huge, and healthy, so I'm not over-worried about hardiness. You can't see it here, but the eye is fairly small and white.

The picture quality isn't great and there's nothing super distinctive about the fig or leaves. That said, anyone want to venture a guess?

I hate to get on my Soap Box but this seems like as good of an opportunity as has come recently on this Forum with several current "guess this Fig" posts!

We can continue to play the guessing game, or we can build on Ira Condit's "Fig Varieties: A Monograph" (downloadable as a PDF from my website) by creating a Fig Variety Photographic Identification Database.  I maintain that a combination of Fig exterior, interior, eye, and dominant leaf form photograph is a much more reliable method than guessing what variety the Fig is from partial information or written descriptions.  A picture really is worth 1,000 words!

Please visit my website:  http://sites.google.com/site/kiwifruitsalad2
to download Condit's Monograph and my .doc proposal for creating the Photographic Database, as well as looking at the limited number of varieties that I have been able to photograph Brebas and leaves of.

If you have several varieties in your collection and want to help by contributing photos for the Database, let me know.  I'll post this same message on the other "Guess this Fig" posts to make sure everybody on this Forum sees it.

Happy Growing,   kiwibob   Seattle

Does anyone know why there is more Horse's Ass's than Horses?

Hi Matt, this is sure a beautiful tree and fruit you have.  It looks familiar, maybe since this is just the first year for this little cutting it will look more like mamma when it matures,definitely next year.  Do you have any pictures of the mother tree? I like trying to see if we have any ideas and I think theres nothing wrong with wanting some help in identifying, especially since alot of us do collect cuttings directly from Italy.  If you have any early pics of the mother, please pass them along. its likely dormant now, but if you have any of it during this year?

Kiwibob,
Jon's varietal page seems to have that covered with fig pictures , leaves , sometimes part of plant etc,etc.
I think there will always be questions such as "what type of fig is this"
which actually makes good discussion .

Comrade Bob--You're right. The revolution will not be televised.

Cecil--I don't know why, but I know that there are.

Maggie--I don't have a picture of the mother tree, but I had a second fig today. Not bad. Really good for this late in the season, and better than nine out of ten store bought figs. It's hard to tell from the pictures but the flesh has a deep, reddish amber color. It looks a lot like a Kadota to me.

Martin--I bought a bundle of your unknown cuttings from Steve. I'm super-psyched.

Matt, this is a beautiful fig, please send me an email or message via figs4fun. Have you any idea on the area of Italy it came from?

I'm going through and updating some of my old posts for the unknowns I've grown. This tree produces a good breba crop and usually two main crops. The fruit is usually a little more of a gold color and the interior is a deeper amber. It's an unknown honey type. I call it Macchione after the guy I got it from.

 

 
 
 
 

nice!

I don't know why, but the amber centers just looks so delicious to me!

If it looks like a kadota and tastes like a kadota then... maybe it is a dottato?

I agree, looks like Kadota. Fruit and leaf.