Bezi de Montigny
PearBezi de Montigny
Origin/History
The origin of this pear is ancient and uncertain. The monks of the Chartreuse at Paris propagated and described it in 1752, and Duhamel du Monceau again wrote of it in 1768 (Hedrick).
Tree
Vigorous (Elliott). Young wood olive brown (Downing), described by Elliott as brownish olive — the sources are in close agreement on wood color.
Fruit
Size and Form: Medium size. Downing describes the form as very regularly obovate; Elliott concurs with obovate. Hedrick notes the form is variable, one type being obovate and another pyriform and ventriculous.
Skin: Pale yellowish green (Downing), or greenish-yellow (Hedrick, Elliott), smooth and shining (Hedrick). Sprinkled with exceedingly fine dots of fawn (Hedrick); Downing describes numerous gray dots; Elliott notes russet specks and dots. Russeted around both stem and calyx (Hedrick).
Stem: Stout, thickest at the point of insertion (Downing). Elliott describes it as long, curved, and rather stout — there is a mild conflict on length, as Downing gives it as approximately one inch, while Elliott characterizes it as long.
Cavity: Small and shallow (Downing).
Calyx: Small, half open, reflexed (Downing); small, open, reflexed (Elliott).
Basin: Very smooth, scarcely sunk (Downing).
Flesh: White (all three sources). Melting, juicy, half buttery (Downing); tender, buttery, semi-melting, gritty around the core (Hedrick); fine, melting, juicy (Elliott).
Flavor: Sweet, musky (Downing); juice abundant, saccharine, acidulous, with a pleasant musky flavor (Hedrick); sugary (Elliott). The musky character is consistent across all sources.
Core: Large (Elliott). Flesh is gritty around the core (Hedrick).
Seeds: Not described in source.
Quality: Hedrick rates this first quality. Downing's formal rating is Good, though his prefatory remarks describe it as "a pleasant juicy fruit, with a musky flavor, but not first-rate" — an internal tension within that source.
Season
End of September, occasionally extending to November (Hedrick). First of October (Downing). October (Elliott).
Uses
A good bearer (Downing).
Subtypes/Variants
Hedrick notes that the form is variable, with one type obovate and another pyriform and ventriculous — suggesting some population-level variation.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
View original book sources (3)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Bezi de Montigny.
Trouvé de Montigny. Beurré Cullem. Doyenné Musqué. De Montigny. Louis Bosc. Comtesse de Lunay.
A pleasant juicy fruit, with a musky flavor, but not first-rate. The skin is remarkably smooth, and the pear is evenly formed. It is a good bearer. Young wood olive brown.
Fruit of medium size, very regularly obovate. Skin pale yellowish green, with numerous gray dots. Stalk stout, thickest at the point of insertion, an inch long, inserted in a small shallow cavity. Calyx small, half open, reflexed, in a very smooth basin, scarcely sunk. Flesh white, melting, juicy, half buttery, with a sweet, musky flavor. Good. First of October.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Besi de Montigny.
- Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:207, Pl. XLIV, fig. 6. 1768.
- Leroy Diet. Pom. 1:279, fig. 1867.
- Downing Fr. Trees Am. 701. 1869. The origin of this pear is ancient and uncertain. The monks of the Chartreuse at Paris, however, propagated and described it in 1752 and Duhamel du Monceau again wrote of it in 1768. Fruit medium, obovate but variable, one type being pyriform, ventriculous; color greenish-yellow, smooth, shining, sprinkled with exceedingly fine dots of fawn and russeted around both stem and calyx; flesh white, tender, buttery, semi-melting, gritty around the core; juice abundant, saccharine, acidulous, having a pleasant, musky flavor; first; end of Sept. occasionally to Nov.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Bezi de Montigny. Trouve de Montigny, | Doyenne Musque, Louise Bosc, | Beurre Romain. Foreign. Tree, vigorous, brownish olive wood. Fruit, medium, obovate, yellowish green, with russet specks and dots ; stem, long, curved, rather stout ; calyx, small, open, reflexed ; core, large ; flesh, white, fine, melting, juicy, sugary. October.