Dear  fignatics :)
Any chance gorgi or Bass can share a cutting or two to try the mysterious Wuhan?
I got a number of cuttings from Jon a few weeks ago that now are pushing the roots and leaves already!
So the rooting conditions seem to be favorable and I can add one to the mix.

Wuhan, as I have been told by Chinese, is the only fig known in China for more than 100 years old (the other ones are American). China is not si far from Pakistan and north of India. Perhaps Wuhan is a fig variety originated from these regions, where it got palmata genes (palmata is common there) and brought in China by merchants or travelers...
I had read somewhere that our carica figs result from a cross between palmata and afganistanica. Perhaps Wuhan is closer to palmata than our common figs...

Yes, Wuhan is called " ZHONG ZI " ,that mean " chinese purple fig "

Wuhan is planting in every city.  but Wuhan is a little different in different city.

You can not feel the seeds when you eat them , very smooth.



 

The Zhong Zi fig on this website :
http://bbs.shuiguobang.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=171656&highlight=%D6%D0%D7%CF

has different leaves to the Wuhan from America :

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w8/loslunasfarms/Wuhan%20China%20Fig/DSC00664.jpg
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/file?id=1344301

Looks delicious Bass. I have almost finished all the fig jam. It was wonderful. Thank you

Sooo ..

Are we saying that ALL our F.carica figs is related to F.palmata
(e.g., like WE humans are related/dissented to/from them apes, monkeys and lemurs)?

Or are we saying that F.c.wuhan is a hybrid
(e.g., like Alma and UCD-DFIC0023)?

And WHAT about the 'Shirazi' and/or 'Mountain Fig'?
From what I read, they may be same and both grow
and reproduce-TRUE distinct-small-white edible (F.c-type)
fruit in a rather vast region.
MAYBE they are a different fig species & should be recognized as such?!

There are 100-1000 's of Ficus.abc/xyz species (mostly with their
own particular/unique (in)famous wasp-companion-species to go along) ...

Where is the problem ?
Wuhan is probably closer to palmata than Pastilière is, and RdB is probably closer to pastilière than Wuhan is. And then ? It is like Citrus : if you want to call orange or tangerine the "Ponkan" hybrid, for instance, you can find arguments for each cause.

Mountain fig originally is not carica and that is proved. Then, this purely Persian species (with long necked figs, contorted branch habit, digitated leaves) crossed with other carica types or perhaps palmata to produce all this population of fig trees growing from Caspian to Beluchistan which have different characters of course ; among them some give the small figs marketed as "Shirazi", from where we occidentals toke seeds since 15 years to grow all our afghanistanica-derived types such as Silver Lyre, Ice Crystal and all the unnamed seedlings that, for now, do not give fruit.

The problem is we are trying to cram individuals and perhaps populations into man-made constructs when that may not be appropriate. Taxonomy, in my humble opinion, is artificial at a certain level, and we may have hit that level here.

I fully agree with you.

Cf. The introduction of this article :

http://figs4fun.com/Links/FigLink1110.pdf

In fact it is not as simple as palmata, afghanistanica and carica.
here is what says Condit about them.
For those who have not time for the whole article, here is the last and most important words :
"

. Variations in forms of fig leaves are so numerous that names and illustrations of sub-varieties could be continued almost indefinitely."

It is as simple or as complex as you want it to be.  You could sequence and memorize the full genetic code for each of your figs and run algorithms to determine relatedness to any other plant you can get DNA from or you could just pick and eat them with gratitude.  Most of us will be closer to the second option.  Inquiry is fun, though  :)  Soon our cell phones will be able to sequence the DNA of any living thing without harming it and we'll make all sorts of interesting observations.  And after that we'll be able to make precision alterations and get 30 lb figs that taste like Col de Dame Gris, ripen daily year round and have a barcode of purple and yellow stripes on one side and the name of the grower on the other. 

...and self-rooting cuttings on the lowest branches.

greenfig,

The WUHAN fig is smaller than ZI TAO FEN and MAI SI YI .
ZI TAO FEN is similar as MAI SI YI .
sunnyshopping2011 is listing out most chinese fig already.

In China ,there are also other fig varieties,but they are not grew in many.

cool looking fig Bass,  as usual, thanks!

Wow!!!That Wuhan, sure looks nice! The color is absolutely gorgeous!!
How can one obtain it?

I have a Wuhan

Here are my new cuttings received from Zhao from Shenzhen (ID "UUU") and Steven from Pinghu near Shanghai, these are said to be all of the Wuhan variety, from different trees, but the leaves already show clearly differences

planeteur123,

The leaves on cuttings can be misleading.  I have terminal and mid-section cuttings from the same variety and the leaves look very different.

Zhao,
the first six from the right are from you.