Black Mission
Also known as Mission, Franciscana
The classic dark fig of California: near-black skin, deep pink flesh, rich flavour, and excellent dried or in jam.
- Skin
- Purple-black
- Flesh
- Deep strawberry pink
- Size
- Medium
- Flavour
- Rich, sweet, concentrated, slightly winey when fully ripe
- Ripening
- Breba in early summer, main crop late summer into autumn
- Best use
- Drying, dark jam, fresh eating
Black Mission is the dark fig most Americans picture when they think of figs. The skin ripens to a purple so deep it reads as black, and the flesh inside is a dense strawberry pink with a rich, jammy sweetness.
It was carried into California by Spanish missionaries, which is where the name comes from. It is a warm-climate fig at heart and does not have the cold tolerance of Chicago Hardy, so in the north-east it is a candidate for a container that can be moved under cover for winter.
Origin
Brought to California by Spanish Franciscan missionaries in the eighteenth century.
Crops and growth
- Breba crop
- Good breba crop in warm climates
- Main crop
- Heavy in warm climates
- Cold tolerance
- Low
- Growth habit
- Large, spreading tree in warm climates