Black Ischia Fig

Black Ischia's name traces to English gardener and writer Philip Miller, who documented Green, White, Black, and Brown Ischia figs in his influential Gardener's Dictionary starting with its 1731 edition, having brought fig varieties from the island of Ischia in Italy's Gulf of Naples to England. However, the "Ischia" naming itself is genuinely disputed: 19th-century fig historian Barron suggested Miller may have lost or destroyed the original labels of the Italian figs he brought over and substituted place names like "Ischia" or "Genoa" for the unidentified varieties, and modern fig collectors researching the question have found no evidence that either the Black or Green Ischia grown in the US today actually trace to the island of Ischia specifically, nor any known matching prototype trees still found there. The Ischia-named varieties are documented to have spread through France and Great Britain by the 19th century, but the specific line of custody for the black-skinned type grown in America today is genuinely unknown.