A Black Fig is a ... Black Fig

Q. A friend gave my husband some fig fruits. This friend said the fig tree is just so full of fruits enough for all his friends and birds. They're so sweet, very deep (almost black) purple, and small; about an inch around. Can you identify this fig please?

Unknown "black fig" from homeowner. 

A. There are many different black or dark purple fig fruit varieties. All the fig varieties do well in Las Vegas if there given enough water. I need more to go on than just the size and the color of the fruit. Varieties of black or purple figs include ‘Black Mission’, ‘Blackjack’, ‘LSU Purple’, ‘Violet de Bordeaux’. Celeste and others. From your description my guess would be ‘Black Mission’ but it’s just a guess.

'Celeste' fig ripe.

Next March try rooting about ten stem cuttings from the tree if you want to preserve the fruit. You will have to label in “Unknown” unless you can discover the variety. Use a rooting hormone like Hormex #16 when you do it just to improve your chances of success.

These are grape cuttings but it gives you the approximate size of stem cuttings. Dip the cut ends in rooting hormone to improve your chances of success.

Birds can be a big problem since this fruit is ready to harvest the same day birds like them. Unlike some other fruit, figs are what we call “non-climacteric” which means they must be left on the tree until they are ripe and ready to be harvested. Other non-climacteric fruit include grapes, apples, pomegranates, and a few others.

Bird pecked fig fruit.