Thats a very interesting discovery Sue. I have never seen a fig like that. Thanks for sharing.

Sweet lips
or
lip stick on a fig

That is just totally cool!

Just a wild guess (since you did not meet the owner), the owner might have used red colour tainted olive oil on the fig eyes for ripening!

Sue I see you have found the amazing and rare Baboon Rectum Fig native to Africa.lol

Nice find, I have never seen one like that either.

You guys are too funny! Baboon butt, Sweet lips, tainted olive oil...too much! They look like glowing eyeballs to me. :-)

It is a pretty fig!

Sue

Neat, get some info from owner, hopefully they will have good notes kept about this! Ciao let us know

Sue, I know what variety it is, it is Chico Strawberry. BTW, Richard Watts just told me, I was at his place visiting and we spoke about this!

Hi Jose,

Thanks for the update! Richard contacted me about it too but I've had internet issues at home for a couple days...slower than you know what, if at all...so I haven't been able post his comments. I have more info from Richard regarding this fig at home so as soon as I'm back up I'll post what history he gave me.

I've also contacted Vidal Zuman fig farm in Malibu which is where this fig was found/named for more info but haven't heard back as yet. Stay tuned! :-)

Sue

Congrats Sue,
Not only you found a new rare unique good-looking fig,
but both you and Jose managed to positively ID it! Let
know how the pulp looks and how it tastes...

Funny enough I was on the durionnursery website today and guess what I found.

Ficus carica 'Chico Strawberry' - A large, yellow-green fig with pink flesh. The figs are of very good quality and the tree is a very fast grower.

I did not recognize this fig when I first saw it. I have Chico Strawberry figs beginning to ripen on the tree in my yard. I just walked outside into the drizzling rain and saw one fig is swelling and looks quite "kissable". The figs are still small (smaller than a quarter) and I cannot comment on the taste until one ripens.......these will be my first.

Dan

Jon has the Chico listed as a synonym of Adriatic on his site. If it is a seedling or sport of Adriatic I hope the flavor is as good if not better. It has a dark red pulp like Adriatic. I did take a couple fruit to Jon to be photographed. When he gets time I'm sure they will be posted on his site if not on the forum.

Nelson, I too just found that the Durion Nursery sells the tree. I've emailed them asking for a picture of the fruit. They do have the tree for $20 but no images. I've sent a description of the fruit and my images and asked them to compare their tree's fruit to mine.

Also heard back from Vidal Zuman but the phone connection was bad so I will try again later.

Sue

When Sue posted her pictures, I did not recognize this fig. When Jose ID'd it as Chico Strawberry, I knew I had one, and I went out to check my tree. Sure enough, I had one ripening and it looked like Sue's picture.

This morning I picked my first ripe fig from this cultivar. It was star-cracked around the eye (lots of rain here lately) and had a large black caterpillar munching on the crack. I washed the fig. Took a few pictures and ate it.

Comments: I have had this cutlivar for two growing seasons. It did not produce any figs the first year. The tree is now 3 ft. tall in the ground and has about a dozen figs this year. This one ripened SIX weeks after my Adriatic.....so it is a late fig. The taste of this fig was very sweet with a peachy taste. This fig has little to no neck and is nearly round in shape. The fig I ate was a little bit larger than the size of a quarter. The stem is rather long on this cultivar....about an inch and a half. The pulp if full and a lighter shade of red than the Adriatic's.

The taste of my Adriatic is much stronger, sweeter, and very reminiscent of a real strawberry. The seeds in the Adriatic are just like those of a strawberry fruit and are pleasantly crunchy when you eat them. My Adriatic is pretty much rain tolerant.

The taste of the Chico Strawberry fig is very good. However, more data is needed about its rain tolerance. I should have a few more ripen; so, I should get more information about its fruiting characteristics.

Dan

Jon did email me to say the "Chico" and the "Strawberry" listed under Adriatic on his site are different than the "Chico Strawberry".

I received an email from Dalton Durion of Durion Nursery that sells a "Chico Strawberry". He said he thought it was an Adriatic. The Chico Strawberry is definately NOT an Adriatic. It may be a seedling from an Adriatic and an unknown caprifig but that's just an educated guess based on its look and the Adriatic being a commercial fig here in Calif. Without DNA testing, who knows?

Vidal Zuman, where the fig was found, had no input of value (yet?).

As far as I'm concerned, as long as it's a good tasting fig as Dan says, and it's such a pretty and unique fig, it's a keeper.

Sue

I am trialing quite a few green figs here in South Louisiana and can state emphatically that Chico Strawberry is much different than any of the others that I am growing. It is a unique fig and its peach flavor is very good. It just might not be the best green fig for my rainy climate.....only time will tell. It is so pretty that I already know that I will keep mine no matter what the weather may do to its fruit.

Dan

Yesterday I ate a Strawberry, JH Adriatic, and another Chico Strawberry fig that ripened under cooler nights and drier conditions. All three of these were very good......and different cultivars. The Chico was not cracked, sweet with a peach (not strawberry) flavor, and again a bit larger than the diameter of a quarter in size.

Dan