Blanche (White Marseille) and Tena fruit comparison

[jmrtsus]

Most know that the Tena was the White Marseilles NOT so now that I have both fruiting I thought I would do a comparison of the fruit and plants. The two plants as far as growth and leaf shapes are different, the Tena has the very distinctive large 5 long finger leaves. The Blanche leaves are more of a sheepshead shape. The Tena in my area of E.TN zone 7A is a much more vigorous grower than the Blanche. We need to drop the synonyms like White Marseilles,Lattarula, Italian Honey and Lemon to stop the crazy name game and make life simpler for newbies. Blanche is the oldest and I believe more preferred name as 3 of the synonyms above are USA only.

As to fruit the only resemblance of the two is external fruit color of yellow/green and a turbinate shape. Size in my area is the Tena is about double in size and weight. Interior color is a pale pink for Tena and a beige/tan for the Blanche.

Fruit taste is very subjective, these are my impressions, the Tena 5 days ago had a honey dew melon taste and today a light creme soda taste from childhood comes to mind. A refreshing taste with good sweetness. The Blanche can have a bland taste or a knock my socks off with a creamy sweet taste of fresh whipped cream to me! I like it lots and see why Thomas Jefferson did. So it comes down to this, the Tena grows faster and has larger fruit and the Blanche has less production and a better taste to me. I'll keep both.

Pictures:
1. is 2 Tena 110 grams
2. is 2 Blanche 55 grams
3. 3 and 3A are external shots
4. shows interior, Tena on the left
5. Blanche interior
6. Tena interior


Fig on!

[Bellefleurs]

Excellent write up comparing both varieties.
Thank you.
I am currently growing both. The Tena is a 6’ tall tree.
The Blanche is around 12” tall with a few figs.
Both are planted in the ground.
No signs of fruit on the Tena.
Last year the tree produced a few that they were excellent.