Yes,i do have a 2 years old-"red sicilian bifara"(actually a dark fig),from a friend of mine,from Queens,NY.I can send you some cuttings for free,my email is mnedelcu2002@yahoo.com. Marius

Thank you Marius!

I am glad to know that it is a dark fig. I thought it was but not sure. It is also good to know that it grows in NY well since I am in NJ and have a similar climate.

Christy

I have done a bit of research on the 'bifara' fig. Bifara is an Italian generic classification for figs that produce both a breba crop (fioroni in Italian) and a main crop (forniti, in Italian). Figs that produce a single crop are classified as unifera, from the latin word 'uni' indicating a single crop. I have discussed this with several old timers from Italy and that seems to be the consensus. I clearly remember the bifara fig discussed when I was a kid in Italy many moons ago and it was usually in reference to a large black fig, which led me to believe that there was a black fig called 'bifara'. Unfortunately (IMHO) there is no such animal. The actual fig variety had nothing to do with word bifara/unifera other than to indicate whether it bore 1 or 2 crops.

I believe Ficazzana may also be a generic reference to a large white fig (which I have), that is pending further research. Do not mean to burst anyone's bubble and welcome further discussion...

Ben

Hi Ben,

That is interesting information you have posted and makes sense to me. Thanks so much,

noss

Hmmm, so it is actually an Italian word that refers to the actual brebas and not the fig type. Very interesting and thank you!

So, would the word "Beefera" be the same meaning as "Bifara"? Depending what part of the boot Italians are from, there are so many different dialects that now it makes me wonder if Bifara and Beefera are the same meaning just spelled differently because of dialect differences.
If only I could of retained the Italian my grandmother and family spoke when I was younger, I may have know this! LOL!

So maybe there is no relation at all to Sicilian Bifara and Italian Beefera, and they only share the same type of breba habit and not the same type of fruit habit.

I did see the Italian Beefera for sale from Adriano's Figs, but he only ships to Canada :(
Maybe one day I will find it and can compare to the Sicilian Bifara just for fun.

Again, very interesting info! I have read this forum for a long while, and just did not post much. But now I may start to come out of my shell and post more often! You guys are so knowledgable! Thank you so much!
Christy

in Italian i has an ee sound!. You spell Spaghetti, not spaghettee.
vowels.
a=ah
e=eh or e`=ey
i- ee
u= oo like "boo"

Christy, as Italiangirl pointed out, it is likely a misspelling of the same word. Someone tried to write it as it was pronounced and came up with beefara. All point to same result, bifara or bifera or beefara or beefera all mean a two crop classification and have nothing to do with actual fig variety.

Ben

I belive the correct italian word is ''Bifera''.Ciao,
Giuseppe

Ok, I get it now! Actually, my grandmother's last name was changed when they got off the boat from Italy, I believe for the same reason.

In Italy, my family's last name was spelled DiMarco. However, when they came to America, they were made to change it to DeMarco, I guess to make it written the way it sounded in English, changing the "I" to an "E".

It sounds like the word "Bifara" (or Bifera as Giuseppe says is correct) was maybe changed to the double "E"s for the same reason, or someone just wrote it the way they sounded it out instead of the correct spelling.

Again, this is all very interesting! Now I am curious to grow the 2 together and compare just for fun!
Thank you again! Christy

I am not Italian, so I leave the spelling/pronouncing
to you experts...

Does the 'Bi' part, somehow indicate a '2-crop' fig?

George, you are correct.... I have also heard of the same classification referred to as 'due mani' meaning two hands, implying two crops, breba and main.

This thread is hilarious. I have a fig tree that originated from a fig my Sicilian grandfather brought over from Italy decades ago, and my dad has always referred to it as a "Bifara" fig. It doesn't look much like the one on Encanto Farm's website listed under "Bifara". If I can remember correctly (since my tree is a baby and I haven't eaten one of these figs in quite a while) the one I have is a large fig with an amber/strawberry interior and equal shading of green and purple on the outside when ripe. It is delicious! Two crops as far as I know. I'm going to have to share this info with my dad and see what he thinks about this.

In the meantime, wish me luck: I've got to battle today with a gopher attacking my little Verdone fig.