Beau Présent d'Artois
PearOrigin/History
Prévost, who died at Rouen in 1849, wrote of this pear that he considered it identical with the Présent Royal de Naples, which it is said obtained its name from the fact that the King of Naples, about the end of the eighteenth century, sent a number of these pears to Prince Charles of Wurttemberg to remind him to forward a promised white stag.
A foreign variety, by some persons highly esteemed (Downing).
Tree
Tree vigorous, with long branches. Young wood dull brown, with white oblong specks.
Fruit
Size: Large. By error classed by some as a Pound pear (Hedrick).
Form: Sources vary in their description of shape. Downing describes the fruit as oblong pyriform. Hedrick gives oblong-obtuse-pyriform. Elliott describes it as oblong obovate pyriform. Thomas gives simply pyriform.
Stem: Downing describes the stalk as long, rather stout, inclined, with little or no depression. Elliott describes the stem as large and short.
Cavity: Little or no depression at the stem (Downing).
Calyx: Partially closed (Downing). Short and broad (Elliott).
Basin: Shallow, uneven (Downing).
Skin: Greenish yellow, dotted and patched with russet (Downing). Hedrick similarly describes it as greenish-yellow, covered with patches and dots of brown russet. Elliott describes the color as gray and green spotted.
Flesh/Flavor: Downing describes the flesh as buttery, juicy, melting, rating it good to very good. Hedrick describes the flesh as melting, juicy, sweet, and agreeably flavored and perfumed, rating it first quality. Elliott describes the flesh as white, with green lines, tender, juicy, sugary. Thomas describes the flesh as granular and sweet, noting that it rots at core.
Core/Seeds: Rots at core (Thomas).
Season
September (Downing, Elliott, Thomas). August and September (Hedrick).
Uses
Not described in source.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 4 period pomological works
View original book sources (4)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Beau Present d'Artois.
Present Royal de Naples. Present Royal de Nantes.
A foreign variety, by some persons highly esteemed. Tree vigorous, with long branches. Young wood dull brown, with white oblong specks.
Fruit large, oblong pyriform, greenish yellow, dotted and patched with russet. Stalk long, rather stout, inclined, little or no depression. Calyx partially closed. Basin shallow, uneven. Flesh buttery, juicy, melting. Good to very good. September.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Beau Présent d'Artois.
- Leroy Diet. Pom. 1:185, fig. 1867. 2. Mas Pom. Gen. 1:175, fig. 88. 1872. Present Royal of Naples. 3. Mag. Hort. 4:395. 1838.
Prévost, who died at Rouen in 1849, wrote of this pear that he considered it identical with the Present royal de Naples which it is said obtained its name from the fact that the King of Naples about the end of the eighteenth century sent a number of these pears to Prince Charles of Wurttemberg to remind him to forward a promised white stag. Fruit large, by error classed by some as a Pound pear, oblong-obtuse-pyriform, greenish-yellow, covered with patches and dots of brown russet; flesh melting, juicy, sweet, and agreeably flavored and perfumed; first; Aug. and Sept.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Beau Present d'Artois.
Foreign. Fruit large, oblong obovate pyriform, gray and green spotted; stem, large, short; calyx, short, broad; flesh, white, with green lines, tender, juicy, sugary. September. (Hov. Mag.)
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Beau Present d'Artois. Large, pyriform, yellow; granular, sweet; rots at core. September.