I spent some time trying to find one but only can see the trees that advertised as 
O'Rourke (Improved Celeste).

My understanding is that those two are different trees -> this topic was discussed multiple times here.

What online nursery sells the true O'Rourke? Is it even possible to buy one?

I've see online (from the year 2010 though) a note about availability:

"The LSU AgCenter does not have nursery trees of ‘O'Rourke’ available. Limited quantities of dormant cuttings are available from C.E. Johnson for research."

Any help here?.. Thanks!

I spoke with JR about this issue about four weeks ago and purchased an "ORourke" tree from him. We talked about the leaf patterns etc. He
stated he has a direct contact at LSU as his source.

Thanks, Mike! Did you order it online or it was done through a personal communication? How big it was?

Don't know if it was mentioned earlier that Petals from the Past sells what they label as O'Rourke but also state online: "O'Rourke is generally called improved Celeste."  Last week I received a couple beautiful and affordable "O'Rourke"s from them, though after checking today the leaves look to be that of Improved Celeste, from what I can gather as explained on forum. Real nice plants, very relatively affordable, and I don't have Improved Celeste, so it works out. I thought I was ordering O'Rourke but the leaf information on this forum has given me reason to wonder.

Yeap, I saw the Petals from the Past offerings and got suspicious of the Improved Celeste note. They sell very nice trees otherwise. 

My mind seems to have rejected the Improved Celeste note. I don't recall reading it initially, and maybe didn't. I do remember being impressed by the picture of the ripe figs and thinking "O'Rourke!"

According to J R,they are the same tree,just renamed the Improved Celeste to O'Rourke in 2007 ?

They don't look anything alike, not leaves and not fruit.

I bought a tree from JR about 3 years back and it was labeled, "Improved Celeste/O'Rourke". I also got a tree through a friend from LSU  supposedly an O'Rourke. It's leaves and fruit are different. I also obtained two "Improved Celeste" from two sources and they look very similar to the one from JR. Later I will have pictures of both.
"gene"

Hmm. So maybe JR now and 3 years back was selling different varieties?

I don't know what he's selling now but I think that his thinking is that they are one and the same fig.
"gene"

This morning I went a look closely at my O'Rourke and Improved Celeste. Here are pictures of the leaves of the different plants.

Comparing My LSU O'Rourke and LSU's O'Rourke I see a big difference. Could it be that LSU has more than one type named O'Rourke without realizing it? Maybe just some subtle differences. The mystery goes on.

O'Rourke/Improved Celeste from JR



Improved Celeste # 1



Improved Celeste #2



My O'Rourke from LSU



Figs on my LSU O'Rourke



Picture from LSU release showing the leaf of an O'Rourke.

Gene--which one tastes the best?

Absolute possibilities that there are more than one true LSU O'Rourke. When a fertilized fig can produce hundreds of plants, all the off-springs can have minor to major differences from each other.

I heard both Improved Celeste & O'Rourke are high quality figs.

You're absolutely right Paully. There were many figs in the test orchard and there is a good possibility that after LSU shut down the program, no one really took good care of the figs and the research work. Dr. O'Rourke didn't publish anything so the possibilities are endless as to how many figs from the same batch are out there producing good figs. Buy the time LSU were coerced into releasing the group of figs, they could have just went to one group of the trees and decided these are O'Rourkes. Although they are blood brothers there is still genetic differences. But what really happened is anyones guess and until someone from LSU digs into it who will know for sure. Perhaps someday an AG student will take an interest in figs and dig up any research work that Dr. O'Rourke left behind. It would be real interesting to see some of his notes.

Matt, as far as which one taste best, I can't answer that just yet. I did eat some of my O'Rourke last year but no Improved Celeste off my trees. I did taste a couple of IC from the source of one of my trees and without being able to a side by side comparison it's hard to tell. The IC's I did taste were very good. The O'Rourkes that I got off of my tree were very sweet and although it rained throughout the ripening season none of them split, cracked or soured. Hopefully the rains will not come at the wrong time this years so as I can get a good sample of each.

"gene"

New member here, resurrecting this thread. I am lookimg for a true ORourke for my North Goergia garden, any sources would be appreciated. I have family in New Orleans and Chalotte NC who can help if there are sources in those areas in addition to N Georgia and Atlanta.

Adriana, go to Just Fruits and Exotic website. They have Improved Celesre and their trees are large.