FICUS, FIG TREE. 211 



less in height. They're widest near the top & they're flattened at that end. The other end 

 elongates into a point & diminishes in size almost uniformly up to the stalk which is 

 thick, quite round, & three to eight lignes long. Ridges that are not very pronounced & 

 barely visible on some figs extend from the eye to the stalk & sometimes are branched. 

 The skin is smooth, a very light green tending a bit to yellow, & it often reverts to that 

 color near the eye. The flesh is very soft, filled with lots of sweet & very pleasant juice. 

 I'd say it has a delicious flavor, if those are the right words for it. 



Its autumn fruits are more plentiful, rounder, not as big as the summer ones, & in 

 warm years have a more exceptional flavor. 



There are two varieties of this fig tree, or perhaps they're two extremely similar 

 species. One has longer fruit; the fruit of the other is not as big & it's rounder. It's called 

 the Marseille Jig; cultivated fig with premature, transitory, whitish fruit. Inst. It ripens a 

 bit sooner than the white fig n°.l, & its flavor isn't as pleasant. Its other characteristics are 

 the same. 



II. Cultivated FIG TREE, with small, dark-colored fruit, red inside. Inst. 

 Angelic FIG. 



The leaves of this fig tree usually aren't quite as large as those of the preceding 

 one. They're less deeply indented & longer than they are wide, about eight inches long by 

 six-&-a-half inches wide. Most are divided into only three lobes. The lateral lobes are 

 joined into a single one on each side, or are distinguishable only by a small indentation. 

 The crenations on the margins are a little more 



