Comte Lelieur

Pear

Comte Lelieur (Pear)

Origin/History

Downing and Thomas give the origin as Belgian. Hedrick offers a more specific and divergent account: the variety was gained by Ernest Baltet, nurseryman at Troyes, France, in 1865. Hedrick cites Guide Prat. 47 (1895) and Baltet Cult. Fr. 305, fig. 189 (1908). Downing also records the name Frederick Lelieur as an alternate designation.

Tree

Vigorous and upright in habit, moderately productive. Young wood reddish olive brown. (Downing; not described in Hedrick or Thomas.)

Fruit

Size: Sources conflict. Downing calls the fruit large; Hedrick calls it rather large; Thomas calls it medium.

Form: Sources conflict. Downing describes the fruit as pyriform; Hedrick as globular-oval; Thomas as turbinate.

Stem: Short, curved, and inclined, set by a lip. (Downing; not described in Hedrick or Thomas.)

Cavity: Not described in any source.

Calyx: Not described in any source.

Basin: Not described in any source.

Skin: Downing: yellowish green, with a brownish-red cheek, speckled with gray, netted and patched with russet. Hedrick: yellow, dotted with fawn and washed with carmine. Thomas: yellowish-green and brown. (The three accounts agree on a yellow-green ground with brownish or reddish overcolor, but differ in character and extent of the secondary coloring and surface markings.)

Flesh/Flavor: Downing: flesh yellowish white, a little coarse-grained, melting, juicy, sweet; quality good to very good. Hedrick: flesh fine, very juicy, sugary, with a delicious aroma; quality rated first. Thomas: melting, sweet, high-flavored. (Downing's description of slight coarseness of grain conflicts with Hedrick's description of fine flesh.)

Core/Seeds: Not described in any source.

Season

September (Downing, Thomas). September and October (Hedrick).

Uses

Not described in any source.

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in any source.

Book Sources

Described in 3 period pomological works

View original book sources (3)

Comte Lelieur.

Frederick Lelieur.

Of Belgian origin. Tree vigorous, upright, moderately productive. Young wood reddish olive brown.

Fruit large, pyriform. Skin yellowish green, with a brownish-red cheek, speckled with gray, netted and patched with russet. Stalk short, curved, inclined, set by a lip. Flesh yellowish white, a little coarse-grained, melting, juicy, sweet. Good to very good. September.

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

Comte Lelieur.

i. Guide Prat. 47. 1895. 2. Baltet Cult. Fr. 305, fig. 189. 1908.

Gained by Ernest Baltet, nurseryman at Troyes, Fr., in 1865. Fruit rather large, globular-oval, yellow, dotted with fawn and washed with carmine; flesh fine, very juicy, sugary, with a delicious aroma; first; Sept. and Oct.

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

Comte Lelieur. Medium, turbinate, yellowish-green and brown; melting, sweet, high-flavored. September. Belgian.

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

Frederic Lelieur Frederick Lelieur