Are these two kinds of fig or are they the same fig?

Do you have a picture with...petite negra??

They are not the same, I saw and tasted the figs of these in-ground trees this summer at Al in Bethesda, Maryland. I do not not have the photos of Petite Negra tree.

Best,
Tam

One and the same from everything I have seen, or nearly identical.

The leaves on mine are very different.

LOL, it is a confusing group.

I rooted a petite negra fig but I have only seen Violet de Bordeaux online. In my opinion they look very much the same.
I don't have a picture of either fruit to compare on-hand.

This question pops up every year.  And there is no real "true" answer..... in my opinion except.  What is in a fig's name?????   Hmmmmm.  Think about it!  Violet de Bordeaux might be the same as Petite Negra and Petite Negra might be the same as Violet de Bordeaux!   Which was first?  Everybody has their own opinion.  And that's OK.  This one is mine.  Do what I did years ago; buy them both from 2 different sources and grow them side by side.  When you do, you will have the same results.

The root cause is we all trust the nurseries and individual whom we purchase fig trees from.  And yes, mistakes do happen but it's hard to fix a mistake when a nursery is set in naming a fig a certain name.  Or when a person changes the name of a fig.  This is why we all do our best and document where our trees come from.

I have all three of these figs, Petite Negra (or Negri), Violete de Bordeaux, and Negronne.  Each is growing in a pot and I also have each growing in my orchard.  My opinion is my 3 trees are different and all came from different sources and yes, I have mulitples of each.  All 3 taste great but my PN has larger figs than the others.  My Negronne ripens first and the figs on my tree are blackish blue and are rounder.  This year my 10 or so VdBs did not do so well.  But the other 2 did, especially Negronne. In my opinion my Negronne taste better than the other 2 but that's just my taste. Plus we had a very rainy July this year which totally confused my figs.  Looking forward to a better year next year. 

So, you're going to get a lot of conflicting comments on which is which.  And everybody is correct.  Figs are fun!

Thanks for the information. You guys are awesome.

Nice Dennis
but
you still never described how your flip flops taste.

How's this Martin....my flip flops taste like....block of magnesia!

If you've ever eaten block of magnesia, then you can relate to what I'm saying.

HA!

Is Petite Aubique also the same as Negronne or is unique? I see it mentioned occasionally on the forum.

I recently had an email exchange with Michael at Edible Landscaping, Inc. who sells both Violette de Bordeaux and Petite Negri.  I asked him about the fruit size and cold hardiness of PN vs. VdB.  He said the two are "so similar, I question if they are not the same".

Michael named the cultivar Petite good while back they had a small forum/blog at the time not sure if its still active .

Then there is their Sals and Hardy Chicago which he now thinks they are one and the same but years ago they were 
not this i know, now a days suppliers to nurseries come and go and things easily get mixed up like in big box stores.

Back in 2003 that i recall in conversation the Sals came from a reliable source i forget the fella's name and Sals scion was taken from that tree before it was listed on his site .
Chris from Belleclare told me to inquire to them as Belleclare could not ship me one only walk in sales.
Thats how i obtained mine  - burned last season for personal reasons.

Hey Rewton, great comment!  The bottom line question is where do these nurseries get their trees from?  And even if they planted one 20+ years ago, and started propagating cutting from that tree.  Again, where did that tree come from and what was it called back then?  What's the source?

Petals form the Past carries a fig called LSU Black.  Some of us have commented here questioning if its the same as Scott's Black.  It very well could be.  It's a very good fig.  I made a personal trip to Alabama and spent some time talking to Blake, one of the owners there.  I asked Blake, what was the source of their LSU Black.  He said, it came from Louisanna many years ago and they planted it on the nursery grounds.  He said, they take cuttings from it every year and sell the trees on their web site.  I asked if he ever hear of Scott's Black and he said no.  I poked and prodded some more but Blake said, he only knows what they sell.  And that's the answer I get from all the nurseries around my area.  I've traced sources of my Brown Turkey and Black Mission to come from Tennessee, Alabama and FLorida.  I've even called and talked to these mega nurseries but again, they don't tell you much and they all rant and rave what they sell. And they want to buy cuttings from ME!  GO FIGURE!

Gurney's and Henry Fields sells an excellent fig called: dwarf fig.  I think it's Aubique Petite.  My 2 little trees ripen the exact same time as my AP and the leaf pattern looks the same to me.  But they call it Dwarf fig. GO FIGURE!

 I guess, we have to believe what these sellers are telling us....or at least listen.  Honestly, I think we should do more and ask where these guys get their trees from.  And IF they tell us, we should call and ask that supplier where they get their figs from and document that.  This is what I do.  I place in my database 2 sources.  Source 1 is where I bought and source 2 is where the seller got it.  Here's why....Let's say you live in New York and you bought a fig from Lowes home improvement.  And yours truly lives in Charlotte and I buy a BT fig from Lowes Home Improvement. 

ALL nurseries in my area tell me that Brown Turkey is the best and only fig that will grow in Charlotte.  So, the question is why do they tell me this?  I'll tell you why.  It's because Brown Turkey is the only fig they carry and its the only fig they can get cheap from their supplier of 40+ years!  Well, I know for a fact that BT is NOT the only fig that grows in Charlotte.

The bottom line is, when in doubt...ask for the source of the tree.....

Maybe it's time that we start a club and call it the American Fig CLub (AFC) and let the buyer beware if a fig does not have a "certificate of authent(FIG)icity" .  Hey it works for dogs!  HAHAHAHA

HOW BOUT THOSE FIGS!!!!!!!

Dennis read post 14.

Dennis and Martin - I totally agree with your posts.  The comment from Michael doesn't really answer the question.  However, his comment does seem to emphasize how similar they are no matter whether they are the same or not.  DNA testing would be needed to fully answer the question I suppose, unless someone could trace back the ancestry of both varieties to the same tree - not likely.  In the end I decided not to grow a PN since I already have a VdB.

Rewton exactly if any of our plants taste similar one or the other is burned here.

If two plants makes fruits that taste the same and look the same,one should keep the healthiest strongest grower of the 2.
There are so many diseases that affect figs,and some are very mild while others are very damaging that choosing a healthy cultivar will make the difference between a successful large, crop and ,no crop,or a handful of fruits only, every year.

Petite Aubique and Petite Negra in the 3 gallon pots. The leaves are all similar.
 


VDB leaves
 

Petite Negri
 

Wow, think you for the close-up pictures. These plants almost look almost identical twins.

I was wondering if the growth habit is the same for the vdb as the Petite? I have the VDB and like the idea of a smaller fig for keeping in a small pot. I was interested in Petite Negra until I found out that it was virtually the same. However, no-one mentions growth habit.

Here in 8B, VdB is much more vigorous than PN. VdB has also been more productive although I prefer the flavor of PN.

I have not had the chance to actually compare the growth habits (likes vs differences) between the VDB and the Petite Nera fig tree, because I do not have a VDB to compare it to. I grew my Petite Negra fig tree from an 8 inch cutting last year. My tree is now around 3 1/2 feet tall, very branchy with healthy buds all over it. The weather is currently icy and snowy in North TX. My tree dosent have leaves presently. If you want I can take pictures of my fig tree as soon as it's buds open and early spring starts. You can compare my fig tree picture to your VDB fig tree to make your own notes.

I'd love to be the person to track that, but my cuttings are thinner than pencils right now, so it may take a few years. I'm sure others have some larger vdb since it's pretty common. However, I'm surprised your pn grew so much considering all of the sites describe it as a dwarf. Must be the Texas heat, the figs have got to love that.