CORONATION

Origin/History

CORONATION was raised by Mr. Prinsep, gardener at Buxted Park, Sussex, and introduced by Mr. Pyne, of Topsham. It was first described in the Gardeners' Chronicle, 1905, p. 28 (Bunyard). The Rivers catalog (1914) associates the variety with a commemorative occasion, noting the name was given "to commemorate" a coronation and citing the year 1901, though the surviving text is fragmentary and the precise occasion cannot be established from it.

Tree

Growth is upright, vigorous, and fertile (Bunyard).

Leaves: Long oval, pale green, very regularly curved serrate, upfolded; falls early (Bunyard).

Fruit

Size

Medium; 3½ inches by 2½ inches (Bunyard). Veitch notes the fruit "often attains to size," suggesting it can exceed the typical medium dimensions under favorable conditions.

Form

Round, flattened at top and bottom, slightly conical, very regular (Bunyard). Described by Veitch as "a very handsome" variety.

Stem

Very long (Bunyard).

Cavity

Rather wide, evenly russeted (Bunyard).

Calyx/Eye

Closed or a little open (Bunyard).

Basin

Shallow, plaited (Bunyard).

Skin

Yellow, dusted with dark red and thick blotchy stripes (Bunyard). Veitch describes the ground color as golden orange — a possible conflict with Bunyard's yellow, or a reflection of the fully ripened fruit.

Flesh/Flavor

Fairly firm, yellowish in color (Bunyard). On flavor, the two book sources disagree: Bunyard rates it as "fair" and specifically cautions that the pleasant flavor of the early season quickly deteriorates, leaving the fruit mealy and tasteless; Veitch describes it as having "very fine flavour." This conflict may reflect different points in the season at which the fruit was evaluated.

Core/Seeds

Not described in source.

Season

October to December (Bunyard). The Rivers catalog (1914) gives January to April — a significant conflict with Bunyard. It is possible the Rivers entry reflects an extended storage season or a different growing region's ripening window.

Uses

Culinary or dessert (Bunyard).

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Bunyard's overall assessment is that CORONATION is "not of great merit," pleasant in its earlier season but deteriorating quickly to a mealy and tasteless condition.

The Veitch (1911) source text survives only in fragmentary form — phrases including "having only in end of shank" and "in keeping..." are incomplete and cannot be confidently interpreted. The details salvaged from it (handsome appearance, golden-orange color, fine flavor, fruit attaining good size) are included above where they add to or conflict with Bunyard.

The Rivers (1914) catalog notation "TT S Jan.-April" employs catalog-specific abbreviations whose meaning cannot be fully recovered from the surviving text.