This variety was obtained from Gene Hosey who obtained it in 2006 from Sergio Carlini of Genoa, Italy. According to Sergio, this variety produces "long and large figs, with thick blue/black skin, red pulp; ripening early to mid-season". It was named for the wife of Mr. Carlini's friend (his wife’s cousin). This one was one of the last remaining survivors from Gene's orchard as it was taken over by the native forest. It withstood the 2013-14 winter way better than many other figs around it so it seems to be very cold hardy.

Does anyone know what this variety could be? It almost seems like a hybrid between Dalmatie and Longue d'Aout. Some of the leaves are Dalmatie-like although they are larger than the leaves on my Vasilika Sika (Belleclare) which is supposed to be Dalmatie. (The last two pics are of my V.S. for comparison.) Plus some of the more recent leaves do not look like Dalmatie at all. It certainly does have longish figs. One is swelling now but I would be surprised if it gets much darker before it gets ripe. It might be more of a yellowish fig when grown in Maryland. The plant has been a bit neglected and needs to be potted up. As soon as the fig ripens I'll post it here unless the critters get it.

I just found an email exchange I had with Sergio a year or so ago about this variety. He thought it could be an Italian variety called Piombinese.

Have you gotten any fruit yet?

Bob, it is fruiting for the first time this year and the one you see swelling (I hope) will be the first one I taste.  I thought I would start the thread before the fruit was ripe and then add to it in the coming days.

Looking forward to pictures of your crop.

Must be exciting, I hope you enjoy the taste.

The fruit was definitely ripe when I checked it this afternoon. The flavor was excellent - one of the best of the year so far! Not sure how to describe it. There was a "brightness" to the flavor that come on strong at the beginning - it could almost be described as a creaminess - then a richness lingered afterward. The other thing I noted, but forgot to capture in the photo, is the ostiole is totally closed on this variety. This one is definitely a keeper. It will be interesting to see how early it is once it is established.

By the way, I sent Sergio this link and he replied that "on the basis of your pictures (shape of fruits, many indicative) this variety is Piombinese, aka Vallecalda (by me named), or San Piero (by Giorgio Gallesio in Pomona Italiana, 1814-1839). The variety is VERY tough, wet-cold hardy, adapt to transport, it has two fruiting (*), breba and true-fig."

Wow I need to add that to my wish list, we can get rain daily in summer where I am, an extremely tight eye, cold and wet hardy sounds like it could be a superstar for me. What a lovely shape too!

Timo, I agree about the skin color although I have found that in my environment Niagara Black and Longue d'Aout are closer to being green figs than black figs.  The shape of the fig; however, does not seem to match the photos I have seen of Vallecalda though.  I'm pretty certain the fig I got off of mine is main crop not breba.  I should learn more next year when it is more mature.

Here is the first fig of 2017 from my Madina. I had meant to plant this tree in the ground this year but never got around to it nor did I give it excellent care in its container this year. I'm sure it needs to be potted up and fertilized more. Nevertheless the first fig was huge! It's among the largest, or the largest, fig I've ever grown. It was also excellent tasting. It was noticeably sweeter near the eye than near the stem. Another thing of note about this fig so far is that the fruit is indeed "long and large" in keeping with Sergio's description but here it MD it has green/yellow skin, not blue/black.

What a nice fig. Thank you for sharing

Nice looking fig!  Is it a breba or main crop?

Amazing how many fig varieties have the narrow finger like leaves.  
Have you compared this fig to Brunswick? 

Pino, it is a main crop fig.  So far my small tree has not produced any brebas but it wouldn't surprise me if it does when it becomes more mature.

I used to grow Brunswick and this fig does not split in rain and attract insects like Brunswick does.  It also has a deeper red pulp color.  The family of figs that it seems most related to is Dalmatie.  The main reason I decided to get cuttings of this one and grow it out is its apparently extreme cold hardiness.

Hi Steve,

Some of my unk pellegrino look very similar with the somewhat darker color ( than BC- VS, Stella), while still sharing the same shape leaf pattern. Since unk pellegrino is both from Italy and has a similar shape of leaf and large tear drop shaped fruit, I am wondering if it may be the same. I will post the leaf and fruit soon, as the fruit in my zone ( 6b-7a) is slightly behind yours, it could be possible. This thread has been intriguing to me since last year because of the apparent similarity. More to come. Thanks for sharing.

Bill, thanks for chiming in.  Please do post your pics of Pellegrino when you are ready.