Catillac.

Cadillac, | Grand Monarque, | Groote Mogul.

Foreign. Large, turbinate, yellow and brown. November to March.

— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)

1. CATILLAC.

[Syn: Cadillac; Quenillac; Chartreuse; Admirable de Chartreux; Bon Chretien a Amiens; Cotillard; Monstreuse de Landes; Grand Monarque; Grand Mogol; Gratiole rond; Tete du chat; Gros Gilot; Besi de Marais; Bell Pear; Pound Pear]

The origin of this excellent Pear is lost. It is known to have been in cultivation for upwards of 200 years, and the number of its synonyms prove the esteem in which it has ever been held. It has been many times figured. Duhamel's "Traité des Arbres Fruitiers" (1768) Pl. lviii., gives a good figure as does Brookshaw's "Pomona Britannica" (1812,) Pl. lxxxvi.

Description.—Fruit: large, flatly turbinate. Skin: at first pale green, becoming after keeping a beautiful bright lemon yellow, with a tinge of brownish red next the sun, and covered with numerous large brown russety dots. Eye: open with short dry segments, set in a wide, even, and rather deep basin. Stalk: an inch and a half long, stout, curved and inserted in a small cavity. Flesh: white, crisp, gritty, with a harsh and somewhat musky flavour.

The tree is hardy, grows vigorously, and bears abundantly. It is best grown on a wall on the pear stock, when it is one of the most profitable pears that can be grown. A tree in full bearing is a small fortune to the owner, for it is one of the best culinary pears, and is so fine in size, as always to command the best price in the market. "It is considered by confectioners" says Brookshaw "as the best pear for stewing, preserving, and wet sweetmeats." It may be grown as an espalier in a very sheltered situation, but as a pyramid or an ordinary standard, it rarely succeeds, the size and weight of the fruit rendering the effect of wind most destructive to the crop. It is in season from December to April or even May.

— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)

Catillac.

Grand Monarque. Grand Mogrol. Cadillac. Gros Thomas. Katzenkop. De Bell Argentine. Groote Mogul. Tete de Chat. 40 Ounce. Gros Rateau. Bon Chretien d'Amiens Chartreuse. Grand Tamerlan. Monstrueuse de Landes. De Gros Rateau Raisenette? Cotillard de Livre. Roi de Louvain. Besi de Maraise. Gros Rateau gris. De Citrouille. Misporde Benoist? De Tout Temps.

The Catillac is an old French baking and stewing Pear, of very large size, and of good quality for these purposes. In rich soil the fruit is often remarkably large and handsome.

Fruit very large, broadly turbinate (flattened-top shaped). Skin yellow, dotted with brown, and having sometimes a brownish red cheek at maturity. Stalk stout, about an inch long, curved, and placed in a very narrow, small cavity. Calyx short and small, and set in a wide, rather deep plaited basin. Flesh hard and rough to the taste. November to March.

— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)

Catillac, p. 537.

[Additional entry in this volume: "Catiliac", pp. 562–562]

Catiliac. Large, short, conic-pyriform, approaching broad-turbinate; crown broad, flattened; yellow, often with a reddish-brown cheek; stalk an inch to an inch and a half long, stout, cavity small, wavy; calyx short, erect, or spread, basin large, plaited; flesh hard, but excellent for baking and stewing, becoming tender, and of a light red color. Keeps through winter. French.

— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)

CATILLAC. Her. Pom. I., 15. (Pound pear.) G. Katzenkopf. Culinary, till April, 3½ by 3½. Shape, Bergamotte, nearly even. Skin smooth, colour dull green, brown red flush. Stem, stout, moderately long in a slight cavity. Eye open in a slight ribbed basin. Growth, stout and vigorous; fertility, good. Leaf large round, downy, regularly serrate, turns clear yellow, no red. Generally supposed to have been found near Cadillac in the Gironde. It was first described under this name by Bonnefond in the "Jardinier François," 1665. One of the very best of all stewing pears, cooking a deep red. Makes a fine large spreading standard.

— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)

Catillac.

1. Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:233, Pl. VIII, fig. 4. 1768.
2. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:535, fig. 1867.
3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 716. 1869.
4. Bunyard Handb. Hardy Fr. 162. 1920. Grand Monarque.
5. Knoop Fructologie 1:125, 136, fig. 1771.

This old French baking pear with over sixty synonyms is supposed to have been found near Cadillac in the Gironde. Bonnefond in 1665 in the Jardinier Francois first described it under this name. The great size of the Catillac has often caused it to be confused with the Pound pear, and the latter's name has been applied as a synonym for the Catillac, but the two are distinct. Tree stout, vigorous, spreading, productive; leaf large, round, downy, serrate. Fruit very large, broadly turbinate, dull green to yellow, with brownish-red blush; stem stout, an inch long, in a small cavity; calyx open, in a moderately deep, ribbed basin; flesh hard, rough; one of the best of stewing pears, cooking a deep red; Nov. to Mar.

— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)

Planted Spring 1893. Tree a fine grower. Fruit very large, turbinate. Skin pale yellow, with brown dots and a reddish cheek. Flesh hard and gritty, a cooking pear. Season November to March.

— Central Experimental Farm, Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz BC — Catalogue of Fruit Trees under Test (Bulletin No. 3, 1900) (1900)

very large, firm flesh, with a peculiar acidity, more for cooking than the table. It is best grown as a dwarf, one of the last strong growing sorts. Excellent Dec. & Jan.

— James Veitch & Sons, Veitch's Fruit Trees (1911) (1911)