Beurré Diel
Pear
Beurré Diel
Origin and History
Beurré Diel originated as a chance seedling found near Brussels around 1805 by M. Meuris, head gardener for Dr. Van Mons. Being unnamed and of fine quality, Van Mons dedicated the variety to his German friend Diel — Dr. Augustus Frederick Adrien Diel, one of the most distinguished German pomologists of the era. Van Mons sent cions to the London Horticultural Society in 1817; in 1823, Thomas Andrew Knight sent cions to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, whence the variety became disseminated generally throughout the United States. The American Pomological Society placed it on its fruit catalog-list in 1854. Its vigor, productiveness, and beauty made it a general favorite with planters; it is, however, a variety whose quality is strongly influenced by soil and situation — in favorable conditions a first-rate fruit, and in unfavorable ones apt to be coarse and astringent.
Tree
Vigor and habit: The two principal authorities disagree on tree vigor. Downing describes the tree as uncommonly vigorous, with long, very stout, twisting branches. Hedrick, writing from observations in New York, characterizes it as medium in size and vigor, spreading, open-topped, and slow-growing — productive and hardy, but not exceptional in strength. Both agree that the branches are characteristically twisting and that heavy pruning is needed to manage the growth habit.
Trunk and branches: Trunk slender and smooth. Branches slender and twisting (Hedrick) — Downing describes them as stout, a direct conflict — reddish-brown mingled with grayish scarf-skin, with few lenticels. Branchlets with short internodes, dark reddish-brown, smooth, glabrous, with few small, raised lenticels. Young shoots described by Downing as reddish-yellow grayish-brown.
Disease susceptibility: The tree is very subject to fire blight (Hedrick).
Leaf-buds: Obtuse, free; leaf-scars prominent.
Leaves: 2½ inches long, 1½ inches wide, oval, thick, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole ¾ inch long.
Flower-buds: Large, long, conical, rather plump, free. Flowers open early, nearly 1½ inches across, showy, borne in dense clusters of 7 or 8 buds; pedicels 1⅛ inches long, pubescent, greenish.
Fruit
Size and form: Large, 3 inches long by 2½ inches wide (Hedrick), uniform in size. Shape varying from obovate to obtuse pyriform (Downing); more precisely obovate-obtuse-pyriform (Hedrick), often irregular and usually with unequal sides.
Stem: 1½ inches long (Hedrick) — Downing gives the range as 1 to 1¾ inches — stout, thick, and curved.
Cavity: Obtuse, shallow, very narrow, russeted, furrowed and uneven, often lipped.
Calyx: Large. The sources differ slightly: Downing describes it as nearly closed; Hedrick as partly open. Lobes separated at the base, broad, acute.
Basin: Shallow, obtuse, furrowed and uneven.
Skin: Very thick and granular, somewhat roughened by russet markings and by dots. Ground color lemon-yellow; Downing notes it becomes orange-yellow at full maturity, while Hedrick records a faint pinkish-red blush and flecks of russet. Dots many, russet, very conspicuous (Hedrick); Downing describes them as large and brown. Russet present as marblings and markings across the surface.
Flesh: Yellowish-white. Firm, becoming tender and melting; quite granular around the core. Very juicy, sweet, aromatic, and rich. Described by Downing as half-melting and, in good specimens, buttery and delicious — rich and sugary throughout, though a little coarse-grained particularly near the core. Hedrick notes that in the eastern United States, when the tree is happily situated as to soil and care, the fruits rank among the very best; but when ill-suited to soil, climate, or care, the flesh becomes coarse and the flavor insipid and astringent, reducing the quality to second or third rate.
Core: Large, closed, with clasping core-lines. Calyx-tube short, wide, conical. Seeds large, wide, long, plump, often abortive, acute.
Quality rating: Very good, in favorable situations.
Season and Storage
Hedrick places ripening in November. Downing gives a broader window of September to December in the United States, particularly when fruits are picked and ripened indoors. The pears keep and ship well (Hedrick).
Uses
Primarily a dessert pear when grown under favorable conditions. Commercially regarded as still worth planting in the early twentieth century, though Hedrick notes there are better autumn pears available. The combination of good keeping and shipping quality gave it ongoing commercial value despite its inconsistency.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 12 catalogs (1845–1917) from Arkansas, England, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845
- Hovey & Co. , Cambridge , Massachusetts — 1849
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) , Boston , Massachusetts — 1850
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894
- Kelway & Son , Langport, Somerset , England — 1897
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900
- Yarbrough Bros. , Stephens , Arkansas — 1901
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
- Vineland Nurseries Company , Clarkston , Washington — 1912
- Thomas Rivers & Son , Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire , England — 1913
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1914
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1917
View original book sources (2)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)BEURRÉ DIEL.
Beurre Diel. Beurré de Gellet. Dillen. Dillen d'Hiver. Des Trois Tours. Dry Toren. Mabille. Gracioli d'Hiver. Beurré d'Yelle. Fourcroy. De Melon. Guillaume de Nassau. Melon de Kops. Beurré Vert. Beurré Magnifique. Beurré Incomparable. Diel's Butterbirne. Diel. Dorothée Royale. Grosse Dorothée. Sylvanghe vert d'hiver. Beurré Royale. Dorothée Royale. Gros Dillen.
A chance seedling near Brussels, Belgium, dedicated by Van Mons, and named in honor of his friend Dr. Augustus Frederick Adrien Diel, a distinguished German pomologist. Its vigor, productiveness, and beauty have made it already a general favorite with our planters. It is in every respect a first-rate fruit in favorable situations, but on very young trees and in cold soils it is apt to be rather coarse and astringent. The tree has long, very stout, twisting branches, and is uncommonly vigorous. Young shoots reddish yellow grayish brown.
Fruit large, varying from obovate to obtuse pyriform. Skin rather thick, lemon yellow, becoming orange yellow, marked with large brown dots, and marblings of russet. Stalk an inch to an inch and three-quarters long, stout, curved, set in a rather uneven cavity. Calyx nearly closed, and placed in a slightly furrowed basin. Flesh yellowish white, a little coarse-grained, especially at the core, but rich, sugary, half melting, and, in good specimens, buttery and delicious. Very good. In eating, in this country, from September to December, if picked and ripened in the house.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)BEURRÉ DIEL
- Pom. Mag. 1:119, Pl. 1828. 2. Ibid. 3:131, Pl. 1830. 3. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 392. 1831. 4. Kenrick Am. Orch. 189. 1832. 5. Ibid. 156. 1841. 6. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 360, fig. 153. 1845. 7. Gard. Chron. 856. 1845. 8. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:77, Pl. 1851. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 231. 1854. 10. Pom. France 1: No. 7, Pl. 7. 1863. 11. Mas Le Verger 1:137, fig. 67. 1866-73. 12. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:349, fig. 1867. 13. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 686, fig. 1869. 14. Hogg Fruit Man. 518. 1884. 15. Guide Prat. 234. 1895.
Diel's Butterbirne. 16. Liegel Syst. Anleit. 110. 1825. 17. Lauche Deut. Pom. IX: No. 8, Pl. 8. 1882. 18. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 203. 1889.
Diel. 19. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883.
The catalogs and text-books supply Beurré Diel with several virtues which Nature denies it as the variety grows in New York. As grown in the eastern United States, the pears are dull and unattractive even at maturity when the pale lemon color is brightest. When the tree is happily situated as to soil and care, the quality of its product is excellent, its fruits being delicious and ranking among the very best, but when illy suited to soil, climate or care, the flesh is coarse, the flavor insipid and astringent, bringing the quality down to second or third rate. The pears keep and ship well. The tree is hardy, uncommonly vigorous and fruitful, but very subject to blight; it is characterized by its long twisting branches which need to be pruned back heavily. The variety is still being planted, but there are better autumn pears.
This variety came from a chance seedling found near Brussels in 1805 by M. Meuris, head gardener for Dr. Van Mons. Being unnamed and of fine quality, Van Mons dedicated it to his German friend, Diel, one of the most distinguished German pomologists. Van Mons sent cions of the variety to the London Horticultural Society in 1817. In 1823, Thomas Andrew Knight sent cions to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society whence it became disseminated generally throughout the United States. The American Pomological Society placed this variety upon its fruit catalog-list in 1854.
Tree medium in size and vigor, spreading, open-topped, slow-growing, hardy, productive; trunk slender, smooth; branches slender, twisting, reddish-brown mingled with grayish scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets with short internodes, dark reddish-brown, smooth, glabrous, with few small, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds obtuse, free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 2½ in. long, 1½ in. wide, oval, thick, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole ¾ in. long. Flower-buds large, long, conical, rather plump, free; flowers open early, nearly 1½ in. across, showy, in dense clusters, 7 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1⅛ in. long, pubescent, greenish.
Fruit ripe in November; large, 3 in. long, 2½ in. wide, uniform in size, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, often irregular and usually with sides unequal; stem 1½ in. long, thick, curved; cavity obtuse, shallow, very narrow, russeted, furrowed and uneven, often lipped; calyx partly open, large; lobes separated at the base, broad, acute; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed and uneven; skin very thick and granular, somewhat roughened by russet markings and by dots; color lemon-yellow, with a faint pinkish-red blush and markings and flecks of russet; dots many, russet, very conspicuous; flesh yellowish-white, firm, becoming tender and melting, quite granular around the core, very juicy, sweet, aromatic and rich; quality very good.
Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plump, often abortive, acute.