Beurré Blanc Des Capucines
Pear
Beurré Blanc Des Capucines
Origin and History
A French pear that has been subject to significant taxonomic confusion in pomological literature. The variety has been repeatedly misidentified with the Amadotte by major French pomologists, including M. Decaisne (who figured it as Amadotte in the Jardin Fruitier du Muséum), Jahn, Tougard, Prevost, and others. M. Tougard designated an "Amadotte Blanc" as synonymous with Beurré Blanc des Capucines, and Decaisne adopted this conflation. However, Dr. Hogg definitively established that these are two distinct varieties. The confusion persists in French orchards despite this clarification.
The variety was received by the Woolhope Club in October 1880, sent from M. Benoit of Havre as part of a collection of "the best varieties of Pears" for the Apple and Pear Show, though it was mislabeled as the true Amadotte.
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size and Form: Large and handsome; somewhat oval, with even and regular outline.
Skin: Smooth, of a dull yellow colour with a greenish tinge, strewed with flakes of russet, and bearing a russet patch around the stalk.
Stalk (Stem): Upwards of an inch in length, woody, inserted in a small round cavity.
Eye (Calyx): Small and half open.
Flesh: Yellowish, coarse-grained and gritty, half melting or crisp, with a cold acidity.
Flavor: Remarkably high, musky flavour (though some contemporary sources incorrectly claimed it to be slightly acid and astringent, or lacking perfume and flavour).
Season and Storage
Ripens in October. Must be eaten directly upon ripeness, or it will rot at the core.
Uses
Not worth cultivating. Described as "far inferior to the true Amadotte."
Other
Distinguished from the true Amadotte by its long pyramidal shape, whereas the true Amadotte is roundish and flattened. The defining characteristic of Beurré Blanc des Capucines—its "remarkably high, musky flavour"—was overlooked or denied by those pomologists who conflated it with Amadotte, leading to sustained misidentification in European nursery practice.
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
View original book sources (1)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)
- BEURRÉ BLANC DES CAPUCINES.
This French Pear has been confused by many French pomologists, with the Amadotte. M. Decaisne figures it as such in the 'Jardin Fruitier du Muséum,' but it is evidently not the Amadotte of Merlet, Miller, Forsyth, and Diel. This is a long pyramidal-shaped fruit, whilst the true variety is roundish and flattened. M. Tougard has an Amadotte Blanc, which he makes synonymous with Beurré Blanc des Capucines, and M. Decaisne made the mistake of adopting this as the variety described by Merlet. Jahn, following Decaisne, identifies Beurré Blanc des Capucines with the Amadotte, which he calls Herbst Amadotte; but Dr. Hogg has shown that there are, without doubt, two distinct varieties. Neither Tougard, Decaisne, nor Jahn, take notice of the remarkably high, musky flavour of the fruit; but on the contrary, the former says, 'it is slightly acid and astringent;' and the latter, that 'it has neither perfume nor flavour;' characters which agree with Beurré Blanc des Capucines, but not with Amadotte. It is quite evident that Tougard, Prevost, Decaisne, and Jahn, have taken Beurré Blanc des Capucines for the true Amadotte; and the confusion still exists in the French orchards.
Description.—Fruit: large and handsome; somewhat oval, even and regular in its outline. Skin: smooth, of a dull yellow colour, with a greenish tinge, strewed with flakes of russet, and with a russet patch round the stalk. Eye: small and half open. Stalk: upwards of an inch in length, woody, inserted in a small round cavity. Flesh: yellowish, coarse-grained and gritty, half melting or crisp, with a cold acidity.
This Pear is far inferior to the true Amadotte. It ripens in October, and must be eaten directly it is ripe, or it will rot at the core. It is not worth cultivating, and is inserted here to correct once again an error of Decaisne, which was first pointed out by Dr. Hogg—an error which still prevails in France—for it was sent as the true Amadotte by M. Benoit, of Havre, amidst a very fine collection of the best varieties of Pears, to the Apple and Pear Show of the Woolhope Club in October 1880.