Épine d'Hiver
Pear
Épine d'Hiver
Origin/History
Épine d'Hiver is a very old French pear, reported as early as 1675. It appears in Langley's Pomona (1729), Bradley's Gardener's Calendar (1739), Duhamel's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers (1768), and Lindley's Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden (1831).
Tree
The tree is healthy, although not a strong grower, and bears well. Not further described in the remaining sources.
Fruit
Size
Sources differ on size. Coxe describes Épine d'Hiver as a large pear; Downing gives it as medium; Hedrick as medium to above.
Form
All sources agree on a roundish-obovate shape. Coxe describes the form more fully: round at the blossom end, diminishing gradually with a gentle swell towards the stalk, where it is somewhat round.
Stem
Coxe describes the stem as large, about an inch in length. Hedrick describes it as rather long, fleshy at the base, inserted without depression into the fruit.
Cavity
Not described in source.
Calyx
Small and open (Downing, Hedrick).
Basin
Rather shallow (Hedrick).
Skin
Smooth (Coxe, Hedrick). The ground color is yellowish green (Coxe, Downing), described by Hedrick as green becoming yellowish. The surface is irregularly covered with grayish-brown dots (Downing, Hedrick).
Flesh and Flavor
The flesh is whitish (Downing, Hedrick), melting (Coxe, Hedrick), tender (Coxe, Downing, Hedrick), and buttery (Downing, Hedrick). Coxe calls it rich, with an agreeable flavor. Downing and Hedrick both describe it as sweet and musky; Hedrick's phrasing is "a sweet and agreeable musky flavor."
Core and Seeds
Not described in source.
Season
Ripens in November and will keep until January (all sources).
Uses
A dessert pear (Hedrick).
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1900)
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as Winter Thorn
View original book sources (3)
— William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817)No. 42. Epine D'Hyver.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Epine d'Hyver, Or Winter Thorn", pp. 312–312]
- EPINE D'HYVER, OR WINTER THORN.
Is a large pear, round at the blossom end, diminishing gradually with a gentle swell towards the stalk, where it is somewhat round. The stem is large, about an inch in length; the skin is smooth, of a yellowish green; the flesh rich, melting, and tender; of an agreeable flavour: it ripens in November, and will keep till January.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Epine D'Hyver", pp. 314–314]
No. 42. Epine D'Hyver.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Winter Thorn.
Épine d'Hiver. Épine Rose d'Hiver.
Fruit medium, roundish obovate, yellowish green, with grayish brown dots. Calyx small, open. Flesh whitish, tender, buttery, sweet, musky. November, January. (Hogg.)
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Épine d'Hiver.
- Langley Pomona 132. 1729.
- Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:184, Pl. XLIV, fig. 3. 1768. Winter Thorn. 3. Bradley Card. 199. 1739.
- Lindley Guide Orch. Card. 410. 1831. A very old French pear, reported as early as 1675. Tree healthy, although not a strong grower, and bears well. Fruit medium to above, roundish-obovate, smooth, green becoming yellowish and irregularly covered with grayish-brown dots; stem rather long, fleshy at base, inserted without depression; calyx small, open, set in a rather shallow basin; flesh whitish, melting, tender, buttery, with a sweet and agreeable musky flavor; a dessert pear; Nov. to Jan.