• Fruit Tree
• Deer Resistant
• Drought Tolerant

• Category: Trees & Shrubs
• Hardiness Zone: 7a
• Height: 15-20 Feet
• Spread: 15-20 Feet
• Spacing: 15-20 ft

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Brown Turkey Fig is a deciduous fruiting tree that performs well across much of Texas, thriving in the heat and alkaline soils common to Central and North Texas. It is also well-suited to East Texas with its heavier soils, though it struggles in the far western reaches of the state where extreme aridity and poor soil fertility can limit establishment. It is not reliably cold-hardy in the Panhandle but handles the heat and humidity of Southeast Texas reasonably well.
At maturity, Brown Turkey Fig reaches 15 to 20 feet tall and wide, developing a broad, spreading canopy with bold, deeply lobed foliage that gives it a strong textural presence in the landscape. Space plants 15 to 20 feet apart when planting in groups. It works well as a large accent or focal point, an informal screen, or a productive specimen tree in residential and orchard settings. Its spreading habit makes it less suited for tight hedges or formal borders.
Brown Turkey Fig thrives in full sun and tolerates a wide range of soils, including alkaline and clay-heavy sites, as long as drainage is adequate as it does not tolerate standing water. Once established, it is notably drought tolerant. Deer will browse it opportunistically. The milky sap from cut stems and leaves is a known skin irritant and can cause contact dermatitis, so gloves are recommended when pruning. Fruit typically ripens in two crops. A lighter crop in early summer and a main crop in late summer through fall, producing medium to large, brownish-purple figs with sweet, copper-pink flesh.
In North and Central Texas, Brown Turkey Fig may experience dieback to the ground following hard freezes below 10–15°F, though established plants typically resprout vigorously from the roots in spring. In colder areas, wrapping the trunk or mulching heavily around the base before winter can improve survival. Containerized plants should be moved to a protected location during hard freezes.