Ficus carica Noire de Caromb, hardy fig plant, dark, elongated fruits, self fertile

This medium fruited variety from France is very dark brown skinned, but has a sweet red flesh. Ficus carica Noire de Carombof is a very cold tolerant variety meaning it is great for the UK climate. Self-pollinating, so no need of the fig wasp for pollination. The fig is a well known fruit, cultivated since ancient times and grows wild in dry and sunny areas. It is mostly cultivated around the world for its fruits but it is also a great architectural plant with very ornamental leaves, plus the foliage turns yellowish in the Autumn. After their fall, the fruits often remain on the bare branches. We have different leaf forms, deeply lobed to slightly lobed. Figs can be found in continental climates with hot summers as far north as Hungary and Moravia, and can be harvested up to four times per year. Thousands of cultivars, most named, have been developed as human migration brought the fig to many places outside its natural range. Two crops of figs are potentially produced each year, but in UK conditions, it is safer to use varieties with one crop as the first crop would often be damaged by Spring frosts. Most common figs have all female flowers that do not need pollination; the fruit develops through parthenocarpic means, but there are varieties which requires the fig wasp for pollinisation (this insect usually cannot live in UK climate, this is why parthenocarpic varieties have to be used here to have fruits).