Much of the below I posted as a sub-comment on the recent Celeste thread. I thought it might be a good if related topic in its own right:
The Mount Etna aka Mongibello aka Marseilles Black cultivar goes by many names (link is my site) which may all be strains of a single cultivar. Some may be significant sports. Some may be their own cultivar. Most may be virtually identical in leaf and fruit, growing habits and other features. Salem Dark is said to be more vigorous than most of the other strains. Marseilles Black is said to be more productive. Takoma Violet is said to produce more breba. Hardy Chicago is said to be more easily damaged by cold. And plenty of contradictory evidence exists as well. Mutations are going to happen. Mix-ups in labeling and variations in growing conditions (sometimes undetectable) are going to further complicate sorting it all out.
Other common cultivars, such as Celeste and Brown Turkey, also seem to consist of different strains with different names and somewhat different fruits, leaves, and other features. Though no cultivar seems to go by as many different names as the Mount Etna / Mongibello / Marseilles Black cultivar.
Though not as greatly individualized and differentiated by distinguishing names as the Mount Etna cultivar, some strains and specimens of the Celeste cultivar are said to fruit after dieback to the ground, some are said not to. Some Celestes seem to have jagged lobed leaves, some seem to have smooth lobed leaves, some Celestes seem to drop figs, some seem not too. As with the Mount Etnas, I've seen a little bit of many of these results firsthand and like many have been making informal (non-scientific) records. It seems that more people possibly for longer have been paying more close attention to naming and observing Mount Etna varieties than Celeste varieties or Brown Turkey varieties.
I wonder what would have been the results if Dr. O'Rourke had chosen to work with Mount Etna figs rather than Celeste figs. I find Marseilles Black, for example, to be more flavorful than Improved Celeste, let alone Celeste, though both of those Celestes are very good and probably typically have higher sugar content. I wonder what an Improved Marseilles Black hybrid would be like. Taste like a Barnisotte but ripen earlier and be hardier? Was humidity and rain resistance of the Celeste cultivar the deciding selection factor for Dr. O'Rourke? Is Celeste much or any more resistant to humidity and rain than the Mount Etnas?
The Mount Etna aka Mongibello aka Marseilles Black cultivar goes by many names (link is my site) which may all be strains of a single cultivar. Some may be significant sports. Some may be their own cultivar. Most may be virtually identical in leaf and fruit, growing habits and other features. Salem Dark is said to be more vigorous than most of the other strains. Marseilles Black is said to be more productive. Takoma Violet is said to produce more breba. Hardy Chicago is said to be more easily damaged by cold. And plenty of contradictory evidence exists as well. Mutations are going to happen. Mix-ups in labeling and variations in growing conditions (sometimes undetectable) are going to further complicate sorting it all out.
Other common cultivars, such as Celeste and Brown Turkey, also seem to consist of different strains with different names and somewhat different fruits, leaves, and other features. Though no cultivar seems to go by as many different names as the Mount Etna / Mongibello / Marseilles Black cultivar.
Though not as greatly individualized and differentiated by distinguishing names as the Mount Etna cultivar, some strains and specimens of the Celeste cultivar are said to fruit after dieback to the ground, some are said not to. Some Celestes seem to have jagged lobed leaves, some seem to have smooth lobed leaves, some Celestes seem to drop figs, some seem not too. As with the Mount Etnas, I've seen a little bit of many of these results firsthand and like many have been making informal (non-scientific) records. It seems that more people possibly for longer have been paying more close attention to naming and observing Mount Etna varieties than Celeste varieties or Brown Turkey varieties.
I wonder what would have been the results if Dr. O'Rourke had chosen to work with Mount Etna figs rather than Celeste figs. I find Marseilles Black, for example, to be more flavorful than Improved Celeste, let alone Celeste, though both of those Celestes are very good and probably typically have higher sugar content. I wonder what an Improved Marseilles Black hybrid would be like. Taste like a Barnisotte but ripen earlier and be hardier? Was humidity and rain resistance of the Celeste cultivar the deciding selection factor for Dr. O'Rourke? Is Celeste much or any more resistant to humidity and rain than the Mount Etnas?
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