“Brown Turkey” is neither Turkish nor a single variety. At least two distinct fig trees bear the name — the hardy English garden fig and the commercial Californian one — its real origin is probably Italian (never proven), and the “genetic certainty” one reads everywhere collapses on examination. Around these two lineages orbits a halo of cultivars that Condit (1955) grouped by eye, and that DNA sends elsewhere, one by one. The full story is in the investigation; this page gives the map.
The kinship network
Two heads, with no established genetic link between them: on the left the English Brown Turkey, a hardy fig with no reliable genotype; on the right the California Brown Turkey, the only one truly genotyped — even though the accession label (DFIC #17 / #155) remains disputed (Frost 2022). Hover a node to isolate its links.
parent probable
même génotype (synonyme SSR)
apparenté ADN (clade)
confusion documentée (distincts)
lien revendiqué, non testé (incertain)
tête / souche hors fiche autre famille (cliquable)
Reading the network
The grey arrowed dashes mark a probable origin: a southern Italian root, never identified, from which both lineages would descend — a hypothetical link, never confirmed by DNA. [PROBABLE]
The gold dashes link the same cultivars. On the Californian side, only Black Jack truly shares the SSR fingerprint of the California Brown Turkey (Aradhya 2010 — merged, DFIC #249 = #17). Texas Blue Giant and Walker, by contrast, are linked only commercially and morphologically: neither has been genotyped, and Texas Blue Giant (larger) is kept distinct as a precaution — hence the “probable” dash, not the gold one. On the English side, “La Perpétuelle / Lee's Perpetual” is the attested historical synonym (Gardener's Chronicle 1843). [ESTABLISHED for Black Jack · PROBABLE for TBG/Walker · monographic on the English side]
The red dashes, finally, are the heart of the matter: documented confusions between distinct cultivars. The two “Brown Turkeys” themselves are commercially conflated but genetically separate; Condit's equation “Brown Turkey = San Piero” has never been confirmed; Olympian, genotyped at UC Davis, matches no known accession — its conflation with Brown Turkey remains unconfirmed; and the whole “Condit halo” (Aubique Noire, Fico Nero, Masui Dauphine) in fact belongs to other families. Negro Largo, in particular, clusters genetically with Bourjassotte Grise (DFIC #190) — a bridge to another cluster, not a member of this one. [ESTABLISHED]
The diffusion map
The same cluster, told differently: no longer as a network of links, but as a hypothesis of diffusion over time. A probable Italian root yields two lineages that DNA clearly separates; the “San Piero” equation stays suspended; and Condit's morphological halo scatters towards other clusters.
Read the investigation: “The fig that never saw Turkey” → (in French)
The records in this family
- English Brown Turkey — the hardy English lineage, with no reliable SSR.
- California Brown Turkey — the genotyped commercial lineage (DFIC #17).
- San Piero — the Tuscan cultivar, kept distinct.
- Texas Blue Giant — linked commercially to California Brown Turkey, but not genotyped and kept distinct [PROBABLE].
- Olympian — often conflated with Brown Turkey, but genotyped with no match to any accession; the conflation remains unconfirmed.
- Aubique Noire de Provence — San Pedro type, Condit halo, absorbed Grosse Violette Longue.
- Fico Nero di Chia — Condit halo, distinct.
- Masui Dauphine — Japan, its own genotype (Mori 2021).
The individual variety records are currently available in French only; those links lead to the French version. This map is revised as soon as genetic evidence contradicts it.