Sultani

Condit Monograph

Sultani (syns. Fayoumi, Ramadi, Barshoumi, Sidi Gaber, Hejazi). Described and figured by Badie and Ghamrawi (1931) as the most common and widely distributed variety of Egypt. The following all proved to be identical in the variety plot at Riverside: P.I. No. 80,299, introduced into California in 1929 from Palestine as Sultane; No. 81,678, from the Tarring Fig Garden, England, in 1929 as Madagascar; and No. 80,152, from Ariana, Tunisia, in 1929 as Bidh-el-Atrous. The fruits show characters very similar to those described for the Sultani of Egypt. Therefore, all of the above will be treated here as one and the same variety. Bidh-el-Atrous is treated by Guillochon (1913, 1927, 1929) as a small, violet fig, with green ribs. Madagascar is briefly described by Spence (1846) as a small, globular, green sort, with narrowly lobed leaves, found in a West Tarring orchard. J. L. (1890) stated that the name Madagascar, “evidently a misnomer,” was attached to a very large fig, frequently met with at Lansing, England.

Trees in Egypt and in California are vigorous, producing two crops. Leaves large, commonly nonlobed. The following description is from fruits produced at Riverside since 1940, in comparison with the account by Badie and Ghamrawi.

Breba crop fair; figs above medium, pyriform; ribs prominent; eye large, scales pink; color green, flushed with chocolate brown; pulp coarse, strawberry in color; quality poor.

Second-crop figs above medium to large, pyriform; stalk variable, short and thick, or sometimes slender and up to 1 inch long; color attractive, brownish violet; meat unusually thin; pulp light strawberry, texture gelatinous; seeds small and inconspicuous. Quality poor in Riverside, much inclined to split at maturity. Season late.