Fig Varieties: A Monograph - uri=ucce.ucdavis

472 Hilgardia
[Vol. 23, No. 11
Sukkari. Described by Grasovsky and Weitz (1932) as a special variety of the Acre
subdistrict of Palestine. Figs very small, subpyriform; eye closed, scales purple; color
brown, with purple ribs; pulp pale red.
Sultane (syn. Grosse de Juillet). Described by Duchartre (1857), Du Breuil (1876),
Mazières (1920), Bois (1928), and Simonet et al. (1945); the last with illustration of both
first- and second-crop figs. Simonet and Chopinet (1947) described and illustrated this
variety as Noire de Juillet. The following account is after that of Simonet et al. (1945)
from fruits produced at Sollies-Pont, in southern France.
Tree very productive.
Brebas medium to large, pyriform to turbinate, with short neck; average weight 85
grams; stalk up to 1/2 inch long; ribs prominent; eye small, closed, sometimes slightly
depressed, scales violet; skin firm, black on apex and body, shading to reddish brown
toward the stalk; meat violet; pulp red; quality fair. Season late July.
Second-crop figs medium, turbinate; average weight 57 grams; stalk 1/4 inch long;
skin unusually firm, resistant to injury during transport; color black, with prominent,
pruinose bloom; meat white; pulp dark red, of fine texture; quality good, Season
September.
Sultani (syns. Fayoumi, Ramadi, Barshoumi, Sidi Gaber, Hejazi). Described and
figured by Badie and Ghamrawi (1931) as the most common and widely distributed
variety of Egypt. The following all proved to be identical in the variety plot at
Riverside: P.I. No. 80,299, introduced into California in 1929 from Palestine as Sultane;
No. 81,678, from the Tarring Fig Garden, England, in 1929 as Madagascar; and
No. 80,152, from Ariana, Tunisia, in 1929 as Bidh-el-Atrous. The fruits show characters
very similar to those described for the Sultani of Egypt. Therefore, all of the above will
be treated here as one and the same variety. Bidh-el-Atrous is treated by Guillochon
(1913, 1927, 1929) as a small, violet fig, with green ribs. Madagascar is briefly described
by Spence (1846) as a small, globular, green sort, with narrowly lobed leaves, found in a
West Tarring orchard. J. L. (1890) stated that the name Madagascar, “evidently a
misnomer,” was attached to a very large fig, frequently met with at Lansing, England.
Trees in Egypt and in California are vigorous, producing two crops. Leaves large,
commonly nonlobed. The following description is from fruits produced at Riverside
since 1940, in comparison with the account by Badie and Ghamrawi.
Breba crop fair; figs above medium, pyriform; ribs prominent; eye large, scales pink;
color green, flushed with chocolate brown; pulp coarse, strawberry in color; quality
poor.
Second-crop figs above medium to large, pyriform; stalk variable, short and thick, or
sometimes slender and up to 1 inch long; color attractive, brownish violet; meat
unusually thin; pulp light strawberry, texture gelatinous; seeds small and inconspicuous.
Quality poor in Riverside, much inclined to split at maturity. Season late.
Temri. Briefly described by Guillochon (1913, 1927, 1929) as a medium, elongated,
violet fig, fruiting over a long season, and good for drying in Tunisia. Reported by