What was the Florea / Igo deal?

[Kelby]

Can someone refresh my memory what the deal with Florea that may or may not have been Igo? I can't recall the resolution.

My Florea has the duck foot leaf shape and was wondering what it was. My Michurinska 10 has a very different leaf shape and size, as well as a more aggressive growth habit. Since Florea has been ID'd in pictures as Michurinska 10 by European figgers, I wonder now if my Florea is wrong. It has been stubborn to fruit for me, I'm waiting on 1 whopping fig it set this year to ripen. 2 M-10 figs will be ripening soonish, too, so fruit comparison can be made.

[don_sanders]

I don't believe that the Duck Foot Florea was ever confirmed to be Igo. I think that Hoosierbanana simply suspected that it might be Igo and was making a best guess.

Two years (2015) after the original possible mixup, Drivewayfarmer rooted more Florea cuttings that he assured could not have been mixed up this time and half of them turned out to be duck footed and half with the traditional leaf shape.

I hadn't seen any updates after that. I'm currenlty trying to grow both in their first year. My traditional leaf shaped Florea has already ripened some figs and is loaded up with more. My Duck Foot Florea is growing well but only has 1 fig on it despite being roughly the same size. I'm hoping that it will ripen to see how the fruit compares to the other.

[Kelby]

Thanks!

[aphahn]

Correct

[Bigbill]

Kelby,

My duck foot Florea is three years old and loaded with fruit. They will be ripening within the next few days. I will post pics of them. My standard Florea trees are already done fruiting. It is puzzling, and I only got two fruits from it last year. This year, I have many fruits, but I don't know why it is so late.

[Kelby]

Thanks Bill. Same source for the trees or separate?

[Bigbill]

Same source.

[jrdewhirst]

Just to help benchmark -- I have a Florea that is a clone of a tree that came directly from Herman. It has been in ground here in Z6B for 3 1/2 years. It has been reliably early and productive. Last year it gave me 115 figs, starting mid August. This year it has produced 140 so far, also starting in mid August, not counting whatever it produced during 12 days in early Sept when I was out of the country. When I left, it was ripening ~15 figs per day. So if I had been here the whole time, I figure I'd have harvested a cumulative >200 figs. It's slowing down now -- I picked 6 per day over the last 3 days. Plus the varmints got some.

The ripe figs are very tasty -- sweet with a mild fruity flavor like watermelon.

[Rewton]

Sounds like a great variety for growing in-ground in your area. I really like the idea of having at least some in-ground trees but the trick is to find a variety that does well in your zone.

[Kelby]

Thanks Joe

[COGardener]

Any chance you could post leaf and fruit pics?

[zone5figger]

I have both versions as well, the one that came from you(Kelby) was likewise late to set fruit and has not ripened(with pinching). The other from Drivewayfarmer has the spade shaped leaves and ripened breba and maincrop already. One other plant showed both leaf types! My current theory is that the rounded 'duckfoot' leaves are a juvenile, rapid growth phase. Time will tell...

[Kelby]

My duck foot is mighty slow growing.

[jrdewhirst]

Sure, here are some pix. First, fruit. See the pic below, six Floreas and two RdB. The fruit are generally smallish. This close-up makes them look big. Use my thumb and the RdB that are also in the bowl as a reference. Outside coloration is green with brown and violet overtones. With more sun, there's deeper color.

[jrdewhirst]

Here's a pic of the fruit growing on the tree, along with leaves

[jrdewhirst]

Here's the inside

[jrdewhirst]

Let me know if you need more. Maybe there's not enough leaves?

[COGardener]

Those are great, thank you!!

[jrdewhirst]

On reflection, the first fruit pic looks dark. Here's another.

[drew51]

Mine is from Hoosierbanana, 2nd leaf, all figs ripened except one or two. If you need it Kelby, let me know. I can root cuttings, or send cuttings, and maybe I could get that Improved celeste. It's not a very good fig though. It's so early and will produce from in ground here in the Midwest, worth having and maybe when it's an old tree figs will improve?

[Kelby]

Herman2 never really liked it for it's taste. It's primary merit is hardiness and early ripening.

[drew51]

I'm drying mine to use for cooking, so I'm keeping mine. Plus that I can put it in the ground too.

[jrdewhirst]

FWIW, I think the taste is very decent, assuming the figs are fully ripe. Not earth-shatteringly good, just sweet, slightly fruity, and pleasant. Of course, if I lived in Z8, I might be more picky.

[mountainfigs]

I think Joe describes the taste very well. I might also say that Florea tastes like apple. It doesn't but it does if any fig does, kind of like an apple or juicy apple jelly, like a cross between an apple and ... something ... cake? Kind of like apple cake. It tastes better than I can describe and reliably so. It's a thick pulp fig, like Longue d'Aout. And like LdA it's one of those not on the surface exciting figs that I really look forward too because it's timely and it tastes good, and in a relatively unique way.

[jrdewhirst]

I haven't got the best palate, but I've thought that the fruity part of the flavor was mildly watermelon.

[COGardener]

Apple cake works for me... Can't wait!

[drivewayfarmer]

Don has summarized it very well.
I saved one of the duck foot plants to see what it would produce but after all this time it hasn't fruited , of course I never could give it the best sun exposure or even a very big pot until this Spring because of space constraints. It might ripen a couple of figs before frost .
My regular leaf Florea always does well and is a fig I think is well worth having in a short Summer area such as NH.
My original plant came from Herman and I've never seen a duck foot leaf on it , just on half of the cuttings I rooted from it.

[Kelby]

Thanks for commenting, Kerry. Very weird!

[drivewayfarmer]

I agree , it is weird , but figs are kinda weird in an interesting way !

[chuckell]

Can someone refresh my memory what the deal with Florea that may or may not have been Igo? I can't recall the resolution.

My Florea has the duck foot leaf shape and was wondering what it was. My Michurinska 10 has a very different leaf shape and size, as well as a more aggressive growth habit. Since Florea has been ID'd in pictures as Michurinska 10 by European figgers, I wonder now if my Florea is wrong. It has been stubborn to fruit for me, I'm waiting on 1 whopping fig it set this year to ripen. 2 M-10 figs will be ripening soonish, too, so fruit comparison can be made.

hi kelby,was wondering now,i got florea cuttings from you in 2014,i rooted two successful,i moved them twice from in ground spots and they weren't growing like i thought they should ,compared to other trees i grow. so i moved them the third time into 5 gal pots,and they have grown better since taking them out of ground,they were in sunny all day spots also,one was putting on about 4 or 5 figs but i plucked them off since they were coming on late august,my question is ,do you think these trees are really florea or something else,and if you aren't sure and if you find out could you let me know,and thanks again for the cuttings,i'm just hoping they are really florea ??

[Kelby]

It seems my Florea 'mutated' or reverted to the duck foot phenotype. They are Florea, though.

[Ripple]

Florea is my earliest ripening fig and I find it quite good and preferable to IC. Maybe because of the early ripening I'm a little biased. It's soon followed by Improved Celeste and RdB .
I have 5 Florea and I guess I'm fortunate no duck foot variants.
IMHO, RdB is the taste winner of the early figs.

[don_sanders]

My single fig on my duck foot Florea fell from the tree. Traditional leaf still has figs. Maybe next year...

[chuckell]

hi kelby,was wondering now,i got florea cuttings from you in 2014,i rooted two successful,i moved them twice from in ground spots and they weren't growing like i thought they should ,compared to other trees i grow. so i moved them the third time into 5 gal pots,and they have grown better since taking them out of ground,they were in sunny all day spots also,one was putting on about 4 or 5 figs but i plucked them off since they were coming on late august,my question is ,do you think these trees are really florea or something else,and if you aren't sure and if you find out could you let me know,and thanks again for the cuttings,i'm just hoping they are really florea ??

thanks kelby

[Altadena Mara]

Is Florea very similar to Igo? Is that why there was a mix-up? Are they both figs with an acid kick to their taste? Does Igo also taste like apple cake? I was able to get two Igo (Prusch Park version) cuttings from Harvey to root and they're about ready to grow out of their five gallon pots.

[chuckell]

Kelby,

My duck foot Florea is three years old and loaded with fruit. They will be ripening within the next few days. I will post pics of them. My standard Florea trees are already done fruiting. It is puzzling, and I only got two fruits from it last year. This year, I have many fruits, but I don't know why it is so late.

don't want to seem stupid but i am,what does lgo stand for ?? and i am adding photos of my florea leaf is it a duck foot ,and just what exactly is a duck foot ??is it florea or lgo or duck foot ,?? i am totally cornfused?? so here are my leafs please clarify ~thanks~~~

[Altadena Mara]

Igo is the name of the town in Northern California where the fig tree was found and named Igo. F4F Varietal Information website lists three Igos, which has caused some confusion. My first year trees are from Harvey who says his version is from Prusch Park. The small to medium fruit are said to have a flavor that that been described as rich with a distinct acidity similar to alpine strawberries. People were paying a fortune for Ponte Tersa for its acidity. This seemed like a way to get a similar tasting fig at a more affordable price.

[drew51]

Strange as I grow alpine strawberries, and I would never describe them as acidic. Raspberries yes (I grow 12 raspberry cultivars), or even some peaches, and plums. Currants for sure, I grow them too. Alpines are sweet as sweet can be, especially the yellow ones.

[Altadena Mara]

Andrew, you're right about the yellow alpine strawberries such as Yellow Wonder being really sweet with little acid. It's my favorite. However I just ate two Mignonette red alpine strawberries and they had a definite acid "kick" to them. I guess it depends on the variety of alpine strawberry, the location and the season.
This was posted about Igo DFIC 168:
"Igo Information from Mr. Bill Fogarty: Vigorous tree. One crop in fall. Small fruit with spectacular alpine strawberry-like flavor. Green skin that develops into violet blush. Purplish flesh. Should be given warmest possible location."

[jrdewhirst]

<< Igo is the name . . . >>

I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but "higo" (silent "h") is Spanish for "fig." So the fig is named "fig"? It's not surprising that these are a few different Igos.

[Altadena Mara]

Thanks Joe for the info on higo being Spanish for fig.
Wikipedia suggested: “According to tradition, Igo was named from the question "I go?" frequently asked by a miner's son who liked to accompany his father to work.[2] Igo may instead be derived from an unidentified Native American language.[3]”
It makes a lot more sense that it was named for a locally famous fig tree.