Duchesse de Bordeaux

Origin / History

A French pear. Downing says it "originated with M. Secher, near Angers, France, in 1850."

Hedrick places M. Secher in the Commune of Montjean, Department of Maine-et-Loire. Secher bought some pear trees in 1850 from M. Perrault of Montrevault. Ten years passed, and then one of the trees produced the fruit. Bunyard gives it as raised from some seedlings sold by "M. Perrault of Montjean, France, to M. Secher about 1850."

Secher invited many persons to taste the fruit, in particular MM. Perrault and Baptiste Desportes. Later the variety fruited with M. Perrault, who named it Beurré Perrault. Secher affirmed he had properly given the variety the name of Duchesse de Bordeaux (Hedrick). Bunyard says it was first called Beurré Perrault but was later changed to Duchesse de Bordeaux.

Hedrick calls the fruit "excellent." Bunyard calls it "a very valuable late fruit worthy of a place in every collection."

Tree

Tree large and upright. Vigor is recorded from moderately vigorous (Downing) to vigorous (Hedrick). Bunyard calls the growth slow, though it makes a large tree. Fertility moderate (Bunyard). Young wood dull olive brown (Downing). Leaf long, narrow oval, down-hanging, little twisted, very shallow serrate, turning black (Bunyard).

Fruit

Size: Medium to large. Downing and Bunyard call it medium; Hedrick and Veitch call it large. Bunyard gives the measurement as 2½ by 2¼.

Form: Roundish, inclining to obtuse pyriform, or roundish-pyriform. Bunyard describes it as round, sometimes tapering a little to the stem, even or slightly uneven.

Stem: Long to rather long, stout and thick, fleshy at the insertion, often inserted by a lip (Downing). Bunyard alone calls it short. He gives it as generally set level with the fruit and often curved.

Cavity: Moderately deep, acute (Hedrick).

Calyx: Open. Hedrick calls it large and open. Bunyard calls the eye small and half open.

Basin: Shallow (Bunyard) to moderately deep (Hedrick). Downing calls it medium and uneven.

Skin: Thick, very tough (Hedrick), and rough. Ground yellow, dull yellow, or greenish yellow. The russet runs from netting and tracing to mottlings and patches. Bunyard has the skin almost entirely covered with rough brown-red russet.

Dots: Sprinkled with russet dots (Downing).

Flesh and flavor: Flesh white, yellowish white, or pale yellow. It is moderately juicy to extremely juicy; Budd and Hansen call it "quite juicy" and Bunyard "extremely juicy." The texture accounts conflict. Bunyard calls the flesh melting and buttery, and Veitch "medium melting"; Hedrick calls it firm and granular. Flavor sweet, pleasant (Downing), mild (Hedrick), and richly flavored (Bunyard, Veitch). Quality "good" (Downing, Hedrick); Budd and Hansen rate it "only good," and Veitch calls it a "fine pear."

Core and seeds: Not described in source.

Season

November into March. Downing, Hedrick, and Budd and Hansen give an early-winter season, from November or December to February. Bunyard and Veitch place it later, from January or February to March.

Uses

A dessert pear (Bunyard).

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Hedrick cites Leroy, Dictionnaire de Pomologie 2:105, with figure, 1869; Hogg, Fruit Manual, 570, 1884; and, under the name Beurre Perrault, Mas, Le Verger 1:133, figure 65, 1866-73. Bunyard cites Verger, I., 65.