1869.] FIG COL DI SIGNORA BLANCA PANACHEE. 145 



FIG COL DI SIGNORA BLANCA PANACHEE. 



WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. 



all lovers of beautiful fruits, the accompanying plate of this, the most 

 beautiful of all Figs, will be especially welcome. Our artist, while doing 

 full justice to it, has done no more than faithfully represent it in its true 

 colours, as growing in the extremely fine collection of the Eoyal Horticul- 

 tural Society at Chiswick. Nothing can exceed the charming appearance of a 

 handsomely grown pot-tree of this variety, laden with its strikingly handsome 

 figs. The fruits are not all exactly similar to those represented, some being even 

 more streaked (panachee), some more irregular in the markings, some almost 

 yellow, and some reverting to the natural green ; all, however, are very beautiful, 

 and show their markings plainly, from the first appearances of the little embryo 

 figs, until their maturation. 



This is not a new Fig, but a sport from the better known Col di Signora 

 Blanca, one of the finest Italian varieties, which it closely resembles in form and 

 quality, and, like it, requires to be grown in considerable heat, so as to bring out 

 fully the superior richness of flavour. It succeeds best grown in pots, under 

 which conditions it fruits freely, and proves in every respect satisfactory. 



Fruit medium-sized, roundish-turbinate, evenly and regularly formed. Neck 

 shorter than in the original. Skin thick, green, beautifully striped with longi- 

 tudinal bands of bright yellow. Eye small, closed. Stalk short. Flesh deep 

 rose, thick and syrupy, rich, and most delicious. 



The figure is taken from fruits of the second crop, which are produced more 

 freely than those of the first crop. The latter are, in general, larger and longer 

 in the neck ; indeed, the length and form of the neck of these first fruits are 

 suggestive of the name, Lady's Neck. B. 



STRIPED FRUITS. 



V-jLTHOUGH striping and variegation amongst fruits is not particularly 

 common, yet sufficiently striking examples of it are to be met with in 

 almost every class. Fruits, like flowers, have their natural colours more 

 or less influenced by the condition of the plant, exposure to the sun's 

 action, &c. ; but some are decidedly variegated, as in the fig forming the subject 

 of the foregoing article, this variegated tendency permeating the entire system, 

 and being occasionally seen also in the stems and foliage. Plants with variegated 

 foliage, which are becoming more common year after year, do not as a consequence 

 produce variegated fruits, although occasionally they may do so. It may, then, 

 be said that there are two classes of variegation amongst fruits, — the one natural, 

 as in the most of the apples enumerated below ; the other sportive, as in the fig, 

 pear, &c. It is, however, so difficult to define them exactly, that I shall not at 

 present attempt to do so. 



3rd Series. — 11. h 



