Fig Varieties: A Monograph - uri=ucce.ucdavis

February, 1955] Condit: Fig Varieties
435
One of the common names he gives for Datte Quotidienne is Constant Date; he
reported it as a very fine fig for drying, especially at Salon and Eyquières, France. The
only other account found is that by Audibert Frères in 1854; they describe it as a onecrop
variety, with elongated fruit, green skin color, and dark-red pulp. P.I. No. 18,860
of the Chiswick collection, when fruited in California, produced pyriform figs, purplish
black in color. This leads to the conclusion that the material under P.I. No. 18,860 was
not true to the variety, and that the account by Eisen should be accepted as authentic,
although, unfortunately, he did not give the source of the specimens described.
Figs medium to large, pyriform, without neck, or with neck very short and thick; eye
closed, depressed, small; color green to violet-brown on ribs and exposed side; bloom
prominent around the stem end, but terminating abruptly at the equatorial line; pulp
rose-colored.
Dattero (syns. Donicale of Pistoia, Bezzoso of Lunigiana, Cortese of Liguria, Coasca
of Riviera di Ponente, Vezzoso at Piacentino—all according to Gallesio; Rolandine,
Rolandine Blanche, Briasca of Grasse, Blanchette, Ficus carica rolandina Risso, Ficus
polymorpha var. elegans Gasparrini). Described by Gallesio (1817), Gasparrini (1845),
Roda (1881), and Mingioli (1904), as Dattero. Described by Risso (1826), Sauvaigo (1889,
1894), Eisen (1901), Trabut (1904), Bois (1928), Bun (1942), Simonet et al. (1945, with
illustration of fruit), and Evreinoff (1947), as Rolandine or Rolandina. Described by
Baldini (1953) as Donicale, with Verdiccio Gentile as a synonym. Illustration of leaf and
fruit by Baldini.
According to Eisen, Dattero is the same as Dottato. The accounts of Dattero by
Gallesio, and of Rolandine by Eisen, Risso, Sauvaigo, and Simonet, however, agree that
this is a one-crop variety, and that the skin color of the figs is green, tinged with rose.
On the other hand, Dottato trees bear two crops, and the figs are yellowish green in
color. Dattero is, therefore, treated here as a distinct variety, and Rolandine as identical
with it. Authorities also agree that it is an excellent fig, especially for drying, along the
Italian Riviera and in southern France. It seems not to have been tested in California, at
least under the names listed. P.I. No. 102,020, introduced from Morocco as Rolandine in
1933 and fruited at Riverside, proved to be identical with Archipel (Osborn’s Prolific) —
a different fig from the variety under consideration here. The following account is
based on those of Simonet et al. and Baldini.
Leaves mostly 5-lobed; base shallowly cordate.
Breba crop none. Second-crop figs medium, up to 2 inches long and 1-1/2 inches in
diameter; average weight 32 grams; shape obovate to pyriform; neck not prominent,
or entirely missing; stalk short; ribs not much in evidence; eye small, closed, scales pink;
skin checking at maturity; color yellowish green, tinged with violet; pulp light rose,
somewhat hollow; seeds small, few. Quality very good, especially for drying.
Djebali. Described by Minangoin (1931) from Gafsa, Tunisia. Leaves large, 3-lobed;
petiole long and slender. Figs with prominent neck; eye wide open; color violet; pulp
light red.