Fig Varieties: A Monograph - uri=ucce.ucdavis

400 Hilgardia
[Vol. 23, No. 11
below medium to small, up to 1-1/4 inches long; stalk short and thick; skin color
greenish yellow; pulp rose-colored, juicy and sweet.
Panachée (syns. Figa Turca, Maravilla, Princessa, Rayonne, Courgette Rayée, Jaspée,
Limone, Bourjassotte Panache e, Père Hilarion, Striped, Tiger, Zigarella, Col di Signora
Panachée, Variegato, Fracazzano Rigato, Bracotedesco, Ficus carica radiata Risso, Ficus
pachycarpa var. fasciata Gasparrini). Described by Risso (1826), Gasparrini (1845),
Audibert Frères (1854), Hogg (1866), Pasquale (1876), Barron (1869b, 1891), Soc. Pomol.
de France (1887, 1947), Eisen (1888, 1901), Sauvaigo (1889), Colby (1894), Cusin (1900),
Trabut (1904), Starnes and Monroe (1907), Vallese (1909), Roeding (1914), Borg (1922),
Condit (1921b, 1928b, 1947), Davis (1928), Blin (1942), and Simonet et al. (1945).
Illustrated in color by Barron (1869b) and Condit (1941a). Illustrated in black and white
by Vallese, Condit (1928b, 1941a, fig. 8, D), and Simonet.
In Dendrologia Naturalis, published in 1668, Ulisse Aldrovandi described and
illustrated a fig designated as “ficus virgata fructu,” or virgate fruit, marked with
alternating bands of yellow and green. A translation (courtesy of Mrs. P.H.
Timberlake) of an interesting speculation as to its origin follows: “Whether or not there
is any truth in what Palladius stated in Martins, title 10, to wit, that the bicolored fig
sprouts from two branches (the white and the dark kind) which have been twisted
together and tightly bound, so that the buds are forced to mix their juices, and combine
by this means the distinct peculiarities of both, it is at least not certain that they have
ever grown together naturally.”
It was probably this same fig which Risso described as Ficus carica radiata, and
Gasparrini as Fico Limone.
According to Condit (1928b), the origin of this sectorial chimera has not been learned.
Barron (1869b) described it as a sport from the better-known Col di Signora Bianca, one
of the finest Italian varieties.
Borg reported that this variegated fig, “Tina ta Spanja,” grown at Marsascala in
Malta, is said to be of Spanish origin, and needs caprification. P.I. No. 86,169, obtained
from Lérida, Spain, in 1928, has proved at Riverside to be identical with Panachée, and
to belong to the Common type of figs. Individual trees are found in widely separated
localities of California, but there is little if any interest in extending its culture.
The tree is moderately vigorous and upright in habit of growth; bark of young twigs
commonly tawny or brown, and striped with yellow; terminal buds green. Leaves not
variegated, above medium to large, mostly 5-lobed; upper sinuses of medium depth,
rather narrow, lower sinuses shallow, basal sinuses narrow, or in some almost closed;
upper and basal lobes often auricled; margins coarsely crenate; surface dull. The
following description of fruit is from specimens produced at Riverside since 1930.
Brebas none. Second-crop figs medium, up to 2-1/4 inches in length and 2 inches in
diameter; average weight 40 grams; shape pyriform, with neck prominent, and
somewhat flattened in some specimens; stalk to 3/8 inch long; ribs practically absent;
surface glossy, with a delicate bloom; white flecks inconspicuous; eye medium or
above, open, scales variable, from chaffy to light violet; color light yellow, with
alternate bands of green, the latter fading out at complete maturity; meat thick, white;