Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. The Smyrna or Calimyrna fig is very crunchy, full of seeds, and gives your Fig Newton its satisfying taste. It’s considered the tastiest of all figs. In 1880, a California grower imported 12,000 rooted fig cuttings from Smyrna. The trees grew beautifully but the developing figs dropped off when the size of marbles. After years of research and effort, Capri fig cuttings, with the necessary male flowers, were imported, but still no Smyrna figs wouldn’t set fruit except with tedious hand pollination. Eventually, after years of research and effort, trees with actual figs containing the overwintering live pollinating wasps were brought into the orchards and nurtured with the utmost care. After enclosing overwintering capri fig trees with enormous tents to protect them from cold, the growers finally established the pollinating wasps in their orchards. Calimyrna is a marketing terms that combines California with Smyrna.
The Calimyrna Fig
