Bergamote d'Automne Panachée
PearBergamote d'Automne Panachée
Origin / History
A variegated form of the French Bergamotte d'Automne. Merlet described it in 1675 in his Abrégé des bons fruits and named it Bergamote Suisse, "indicating thereby the country of its origin" (Hedrick, who cites Leroy, Dict. Pom. 1:225, fig., 1867, and Hogg, Fruit Man. 505, 1884). Downing calls it "a very pretty, roundish, striped Pear."
Tree
Branches often striped (Downing).
Fruit
Size: Medium.
Form: Roundish, a little inclined to turbinate or slightly turbinate; Hedrick adds flattened, regular, the summit always a little mammillate.
Stem: Not described in source.
Cavity: Not described in source.
Calyx: Not described in source.
Basin: Not described in source.
Skin: Smooth (Downing). Ground pale green, striped with yellow and pale red (Downing); pale green with pale red, or pale green, yellow and pale red (Thomas). Hedrick: color olive-yellow, occasionally slightly tinged with dull red, beautifully striped longitudinally with large bands of brownish-green passing into bright green on the side shaded from the sun.
Dots: Spotted all over with large, fawn dots (Hedrick).
Flesh and flavor: Flesh white (Hedrick), melting, juicy, sweet and pleasant; melting and buttery, sugary, acidulous (Hedrick); Thomas adds "agreeable." Quality "Good" (Downing); "first" (Hedrick).
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
October; Hedrick gives October and November.
Uses
Not described in source.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
- Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900) — listed as Swiss Bergamot
- Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)
- Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903) — listed as Bergamotte Suisse
View original book sources (3)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Swiss Bergamot.
Bergamotte Suisse. Striped Bergamot. Bergamot Rayee.
A very pretty, roundish, striped Pear. Branches often striped.
Fruit of medium size, roundish, a little inclined to turbinate. Skin smooth, pale green, striped with yellow and pale red. Flesh melting, juicy, sweet, and pleasant. Good. October.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Bergamotte Suisse. Medium, roundish, pale green, yellow and pale red; melting, sweet, pleasant. October.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Swiss Bergamot", pp. 804–804]
Swiss Bergamot. Medium, roundish, slightly turbinate, pale green and pale red; melting, sweet, agreeable. October.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Bergamote d'Automne Panachée.
- Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:225, fig. 1867. Bergamotte Suisse.
- Hogg Fruit Man. 505. 1884.
A variegated form of the French Bergamotte d'Automne. Merlet, who described it in 1675 in his Abrégé des bons fruits, named it Bergamote Suisse, indicating thereby the country of its origin. Fruit medium, roundish and flattened, somewhat inclining to turbinate, regular, and having the summit always a little mammillate, color olive-yellow, occasionally slightly tinged with dull red, spotted all over with large, fawn dots, and beautifully striped longitudinally with large bands of brownish-green passing into bright green on the side shaded from the sun; flesh white, melting and buttery, sugary, acidulous; first; Oct. and Nov.