Coll de Dama Mutante is a stable mutation of Coll de Dama Negra. A favorite of my good friend, Rafael. A standout feature of this fig is its appearance as it ripens. Initially green and unstriped, the fig develops stripes as it matures. This is an example of the opposite of rimada fig. Most rimada figs lose their striping as they ripen, but are variegated when unripe. Mutante has beautiful striping that looks almost painted on even when ripe. It's striking and still has all of the qualities I look for in a true Coll de Dama fig.
If Black Madeira is the king of figs, the Coll de Damas is the queen of figs. It translates to, “a lady's neck” for its long and distinctive neck. That's one of the best ways to identify it.
While the flavor of the Coll de Damas is quite complex, the texture is what I believe puts it in the category of a fig variety that must be grown by every fig grower. The texture is very thick. Like pancake batter. It's more than just a thick jam that you can find in a jar at the supermarket. It's got something extra and in my opinion, it's the best eating experience that you can find in Ficus Carica.
There are a few names for the Coll de Damas. There's Blanc, Noire & Grise. Each has pretty much the same eating experience, but with a different skin color. How amazing is that?
It's also a commercial fig particularly popular in Spain and therefore there are a number of similar figs beyond Blanc, Grise & Noire.
One of which is Gegantina. It’s a consistently larger Blanc.
There's also Mutante, which is a mutation of Noire that shows rimada-like striping when the fig is ripening.
There's also Roja, which by most accounts is a synonym of Noire.
While each of these is quite similar and will give you that amazing eating experience, they do all show different observable characteristics. Most of them I find to be rather unhealthy and until you plant them in the ground and rejuvenation prune them, they'll be quite finicky trees throughout their lifetimes.
Once you can establish something very healthy in the ground, cuttings or air layers can be taken from these trees to produce a healthy, vigorous, and productive copy. Because of how amazing the Coll de Dama figs are, I've decided to champion the task of finding a similar fig to the Coll de Damas without the difficulties attached.
It's hard to say at this point which variety will prevail (or maybe I'll even just stick with a healthy Noire for example), but certainly, a nice alternative so far seems to be a variety called De La Roca.
To this day I think it's still the best eating experience I've had in a fig. The tree grows well, is productive, is healthy, and seems to perform better in humid conditions. It can dry on the tree a bit easier than the other Coll de Dama figs and perhaps it also has a shorter hang time.
