Flemish Beauty
Pear
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Origin & History
The parent tree of Flemish Beauty is said to have been a wilding found in a wood near Alost, East Flanders, Belgium, about the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was cultivated under the Flemish name Bosc Peer, or Pear of the Woods. The Herefordshire Pomona places the discovery specifically in the village of Deftinge, in Flanders. About 1810, the propagation of the variety was taken up by Van Mons, who introduced it a few years later under the name Fondante des Bois, by which name it was known in Europe for many years. Van Mons distributed numerous grafts to his friends and correspondents, promoting its rapid spread. When asked which of all his new pears he would give the preference, Van Mons immediately replied "the Beurré Spence," which Hovey considered identical with Flemish Beauty, having received it under that name from English and French collections and finding it answering in every particular to Van Mons's description.
Lindley, writing in 1831, described this variety under the name Flemish Beauty, and it appeared then to be in pretty general cultivation in England. Under the name of the Barnard pear, it had been known in Dorchester, Massachusetts, for nearly twenty years before 1851, so it is to be inferred that the variety was introduced to America prior to 1830, possibly by someone by the name of Barnard. At the first meeting of the American Pomological Society held in 1848, Flemish Beauty was placed in the list of pears recommended for general cultivation, a place it has since retained. The fact that the variety has over sixty synonyms may be taken as some testimony to its popularity and excellence.
At one time Flemish Beauty was a leading commercial variety in the pear regions of eastern America, but according to Hedrick it was supplanted by other varieties because the toll of blighted trees was too great and the fruits were too often disfigured by the scab fungus. Elliott, writing earlier (1865), considered it deserving of far more general cultivation than it had yet received, and on the rich soils of Illinois had seen it far surpass even the most highly nursed specimens of Boston amateur gardens.
Tree
The tree is vigorous, hardy, and productive. Hedrick describes it as medium in size, vigorous, spreading, with drooping branches. Hovey similarly describes a vigorous tree with a spreading habit, in old trees sometimes slightly drooping. The trunk is smooth (Hedrick).
Branches and shoots: Branches thick, shaggy, bright reddish-brown, with dull gray scarf-skin and large lenticels (Hedrick). Branchlets thick, short, with short internodes, reddish-brown, smooth, glabrous, with many large, raised lenticels (Hedrick). Hovey describes the wood as clear reddish brown with rather numerous whitish specks, with annual shoots long, rather slender, and short-jointed. Downing describes young shoots as upright, reddish olive brown. Elliott and Thomas both describe dark brown shoots, with Thomas adding that they are diverging and ascending.
Buds: Buds pointed, prominent, with rather stout shoulders; flower-buds medium size (Hovey). Hedrick gives more detail: leaf-buds large, long, obtuse, pointed, nearly free; leaf-scars prominent. Flower-buds very large, long, conical or pointed, very plump, free. Flowers 1⅛ in. across, in dense clusters, usually 7 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1¼ in. long, slender, slightly pubescent, light green (Hedrick). Flowers medium size; petals obovate, cupped (Hovey).
Leaves: Hedrick describes leaves 3½ in. long, 1⅝ in. wide, oval, thick, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long, usually slender. Hovey describes leaves medium size, ovate, tapering to the point, smooth, deep glossy green, slightly and obtusely serrated, the younger ones flat, the older somewhat folded and slightly recurved on the midrib; petioles long, from one and a half to two inches, and rather slender.
Bearing habit: Sources conflict on precocity. Downing states the tree "bears early and abundantly," but Hedrick says the trees "do not come in bearing early," and Hovey specifies it "does not come into bearing very early — about the fifth or sixth year — but, when it begins to bear, it produces the most abundant crops of large fruit, often measuring twelve inches in circumference." All sources agree on abundant productivity once bearing age is reached.
Quince stock compatibility: Sources disagree sharply. The Herefordshire Pomona recommends growing it "as a pyramid on the quince or pear stock." Elliott states it "succeeds most admirably on the Quince." However, Hedrick says the trees "are not suitable for dwarfing as they overgrow the quince stock," and Hovey says it "does not succeed very well upon the quince."
Hardiness: Hardy, with as great hardihood to cold as those of any other variety (Hedrick). The Stark Bros. catalog notes it is well adapted for the North and East and the Northwest.
Disease susceptibility: Hedrick reports that in some seasons no applications of spray give the pears a clean cheek, and they are blackened, scabbed, cracked, and malformed with the scab fungus; not infrequently the scab-infected foliage drops before the crop matures. Blight and scab condemn tree and fruit for commercial orchards, but a lover of good pears should combat these troubles for the sake of the choice fruits. Thomas notes the fruit often cracks badly unless the trees are sprayed.
Fruit
Size: Large. Hedrick gives dimensions of nearly 2½ in. long by 2⅜ in. wide, uniform in size and shape. Hovey gives larger dimensions of about 3½ inches long and 3 inches in diameter.
Form: Obovate to obovate-obtuse-pyriform. Hedrick describes it as roundish or obovate-obtuse-pyriform, symmetrical, with nearly equal sides. Downing says obovate obtuse pyriform. Hovey says oblong-obovate, largest about one third from the crown, and tapering to an obtuse point at the stem. Elliott says oblong obtuse obovate. Thomas describes it as obovate, often obscurely tapering to the crown, very obtuse.
Stem: About one to one and a half inches long. Hedrick gives 1¼ in. long, thick. Downing says rather short, from an inch to an inch and a half long. Hovey says medium length, about one inch long, moderately stout, curved, and inserted in a small cavity, rather highest on one side. Thomas says 1¼ inches long, rather slender.
Cavity: Narrow and deep. Downing describes a peculiarly narrow, round cavity, with the stem pretty deeply planted. Hedrick says acute, shallow to deep, narrow, slightly russeted, a little furrowed. The Herefordshire Pomona says rather deep. Thomas says round, deep, narrow, often acuminate, rim obtusely rounded.
Calyx: Short, open. Hedrick adds that the lobes are partly separated at the base, short, obtuse. Hovey describes the eye as small, open, with segments of the calyx short and pointed.
Basin: Small and shallow. Hedrick says shallow, narrow, abrupt, symmetrical. Downing says small and round. Hovey says smooth and shallow.
Skin: Slightly rough in texture. The ground color is pale yellow, mostly covered with marblings and patches of light russet, becoming reddish brown on the sunny side. More specifically: the Herefordshire Pomona describes the skin as pale yellow, almost entirely covered with yellowish brown russet on the shaded side and reddish brown on the side next the sun. Hedrick describes it as thick, tough, roughish, dull, with clear yellow color overspread on the exposed cheek with a dotted and marbled red blush; dots numerous, russet, small, conspicuous. Hovey describes it as fair, slightly rough, dull yellow, more or less traced with a rich deep russet, clouded with green, beautifully mottled with crimson in the sun, and covered with russet specks. Stark Bros. describes it as pale yellow, tinged maroon with light russet, with beautiful coloring.
Flesh & Flavor: Yellowish white (white according to Hovey), not very fine-grained but juicy, melting, very saccharine and rich, with a slightly musky flavor. Hedrick describes the flesh as yellowish-white, firm, becoming melting and tender, granular, juicy, sweet, aromatic, with a slight musky flavor; quality very good; the flavor is nicely balanced between sweetness and sourness, very rich, with a pleasing muskiness, and "almost unapproachable in quality." The Herefordshire Pomona describes it as buttery, melting, rich, and sugary. Hovey says white, a little coarse, very melting and juicy, with flavor rich, sugary and delicious, with a high aroma, becoming "extremely melting and luscious" when house-ripened. Thomas notes the flavor is often very rich, sweet, and excellent, but variable, and sometimes not high-flavored. Downing rates it "Very good."
Core & Seeds: Sources vary. Hedrick describes the core as closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds rather long, plump, acute. Hovey describes the core as large, with seeds small and pale brown. Elliott says core medium, with oblong capsules; seeds oblong pyriform.
Season
Late September to early October. The Herefordshire Pomona says ripe in September. Downing says last of September. Hedrick says late September and early October. Hovey says last of September and beginning of October. Thomas says early fall. Does not keep long (Elliott).
All sources emphasize that the fruit requires house-ripening: it must be gathered before fully ripe on the tree, even before it parts readily from the tree, and ripened indoors. If allowed to mature on the tree, it becomes soft, flavorless, and decays soon (Downing), or loses most of its flavor (Hovey). Hedrick advises picking the pears as soon as they attain full size and permitting them to ripen under cover, and states that so treated, a bright-cheeked Flemish Beauty is as handsome as any pear.
Uses
A first-rate dessert pear when properly house-ripened. The Herefordshire Pomona calls it "an excellent pear" and "a first-rate pear." Hedrick states that blight and scab condemn tree and fruit for commercial orchards, but a lover of good pears should combat these troubles for the sake of the choice fruits.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 6 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 72 catalogs (1845–1955) from Alabama, Arkansas, California, England, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845
- Hovey & Co. , Cambridge , Massachusetts — 1849
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) , Boston , Massachusetts — 1850
- Joseph Breck & Co. , Boston , Massachusetts — 1855
- Hutchison Nursery , James Hutchison, Oakland , California — 1881
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1884
- Huntsville Wholesale Nurseries (Jessie S. Moss , Proprietor; W.F. Heikes, Manager), Huntsville , Alabama — 1886
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1888
- California Nursery Co. , Niles , California — 1889
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1889
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1890
- William H. Moon Co. , Morrisville, Bucks County , Pennsylvania — 1890
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1891
- Missouri Nursery Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1891
- Puyallup & Yakima Nurseries , Puyallup, Washington (Lock Box 191) and North Yakima , Washington — 1892
- Glen St. Mary Nurseries (G.L. Taber , Proprietor), Glen St. Mary , Florida — 1893
- Milwaukie-Canby Nurseries , Canby, OR (and Milwaukie, OR) — 1893
- Rogers Nursery Co. , Moorestown , New Jersey — 1893
- Sherwood Hall Nursery Co. , Timothy Hopkins (Menlo Park Nurseries), San Francisco / Menlo Park , California — 1893
- Multnomah Nurseries , Russellville , Oregon — 1894
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1895
- The Lovett Company , Little Silver , New Jersey — 1896
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1897
- Arthur J. Collins & Sons , Moorestown , New Jersey — 1898
- J.V. Cotta (Cotta Nursery) , Carroll County , Illinois — 1898
- Reading Nursery , Jacob W. Manning, Proprietor, Reading , Massachusetts — 1898
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1898
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1899
- Alabama Nursery Co. , Huntsville , Alabama — 1900
- The Dalles Nurseries , The Dalles , Oregon — 1901
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1901
- Mountain Grove Nurseries (Tippin & Moore , Proprietors; Geo. T. Tippin, J. W. Tippin, J. C. Moore), Mountain Grove , Missouri — 1901
- S.L. Watkins , Grizzly Flats, El Dorado County , California — 1901
- Yarbrough Bros. , Stephens , Arkansas — 1901
- Forestville Nurseries , T.J. True, Forestville , California — 1902
- Pacific Nursery Company (W. O. Hudson & A. D. Hudson) , Tangent , Oregon — 1903
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1906
- J.B. Pilkington , Portland , Oregon — 1907
- Carlton Nursery Co. , Carlton , Oregon — 1909
- Milton Nursery Co. (A. Miller & Sons , Proprietors), Milton , Oregon — 1909
- Wm. J. Corse (successor to Robert Sinclair / Sinclair Nurseries) , Baltimore , Maryland — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- C.F. Lansing , Salem , Oregon — 1910
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1910
- Galbraith Nursery Co. (DeWitt Hansen , Pres.-Mgr.), Fairbury , Nebraska — 1911
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1911
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1911
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
- Ballygreen Nurseries , Hanford , Washington — 1912
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1912
- Vineland Nurseries Company , Clarkston , Washington — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Samuel Fraser , Geneseo , New York — 1913
- Van Holderbeke Nursery Co. , Incorporated, Spokane, Washington (nurseries at Otis Orchards WA, Pasadena WA, Kennewick WA) — 1913
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1914
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1915
- Ornamental & Fruit Nursery Company , Wapato, County of Yakima , Washington — 1915
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1916
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1917
- Fancher Creek Nurseries , George C. Roeding, Fresno , California — 1918
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
- Christopher Nurseries / John Stewart & Sons , Christopher , Washington — 1920
- Columbia & Okanogan Nursery Co. , Wenatchee , Washington — 1925
- Hudson's Wholesale Nurseries , Tangent , Oregon — 1926
- Milton Nursery Co. , Milton-Freewater , Oregon — 1947
- Carlton Nursery Co. , Forest Grove , Oregon — 1955
- North-Western Nurseries , Walla Walla , Washington
View original book sources (7)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)
- FLEMISH BEAUTY.
[Syn: Belle de Flandres; Belle des Bois; Beurré des Bois; Beurré de Bourgogne; Beurré Davy; Beurré Davis; Beurré d'Effingham; Beurré d'Elberg; Beurré Foidard; Beurré St. Amour; Beurré Spence; Bosch Peer; Mouille Bouche Nouvelle; Brilliante; Fondante des Bois; Gagné à Heuze; Impératrice des Bois.]
This excellent pear was discovered by Van Mons, in the village of Deftinge, in Flanders, in 1810; and he brought it into notice by distributing grafts among his friends.
Description.—Fruit, large, and obovate. Skin, pale yellow, almost entirely covered with yellowish brown russet on the shaded side, and reddish brown on the side next the sun. Eye, open, set in a small shallow basin. Stalk, an inch long, inserted in a rather deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish white; buttery, melting, rich, and sugary.
A first-rate pear, ripe in September, but it requires to be gathered before it is ripe, or it will be inferior in quality. Best grown as a pyramid on the quince or pear stock.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Flemish Beauty.
Belle de Flandres. Bosch Nouvelle. Bosch. Bosc Sire. Poire Davy. Imperatrice de France. Fondante du Bois. Boschpeer. Beurré Spence (erroneously). Brilliant. Brillante.
Bergamotte de Flandre. Beurre Foidard. Petersilie Peer. Beurre de Bourgogne. Beurre St. Amour. Belle des Bois. Beurre de Deftinge. Beurre Deftinghem. Beurre Davy. Poire de Persil. Molle Bouche Nouvelle.
An old Pear, supposed of Belgian origin, although foreign authors conflict in regard thereto. The tree is very luxuriant, hardy and bears early and abundantly; the young shoots upright, reddish olive brown.
The fruit requires to be gathered sooner than most pears, even before it parts readily from the tree. If it is then ripened in the house it is always fine, while, if allowed to mature on the tree, it usually becomes soft, flavorless, and decays soon.
Fruit large, obovate obtuse pyriform. Surface a little rough, the ground pale yellow, but mostly covered with marblings and patches of light russet, becoming reddish brown at maturity, on the sunny side. Stalk rather short, from an inch to an inch and a half long, and pretty deeply planted in a peculiarly narrow, round cavity. Calyx short, open, placed in a small round basin. Flesh yellowish white, not very fine-grained, but juicy, melting, very saccharine and rich, with a slightly musky flavor. Very good. Last of September.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)FLEMISH BEAUTY
- Pom. Mag. 3:128, Pl. 1830. 2. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 373. 1831. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 386, fig. 167. 1845. 4. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51. 1848. 5. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:51, Pl. 1851. 6. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 760, fig. 1869. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 578. 1884.
Belle de Flanders. 8. Kenrick Am. Orch. 172. 1832.
Fondante des Bois. 9. Ann. Pom. Belge 6:41, Pl. 1858. 10. Pom. France 1: No. 25, Pl. 25. 1863. 11. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 2, 55, fig. 124. 1866-73. 12. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:166, fig. 1869. 13. Guide Prat. 58, 272. 1876. 14. Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom. 412, fig. 1904.
Holzfarbige Butterbirne. 15. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 235. 1889. 16. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 49, Pl. 38. 1894.
At one time Flemish Beauty was a leading commercial variety in the pear regions of eastern America, but it has been supplanted by other varieties because the toll of blighted trees is too great, and the fruits are too often disfigured by the scab fungus. Perhaps the latter is the greater fault as in some seasons no applications of spray give the pears a clean cheek, and they are blackened, scabbed, cracked and malformed with this fungus. Not infrequently the scab-infected foliage drops before the crop matures. To offset these defects, the trees have to their credit great vigor, unusual fruitfulness and as great hardihood to cold as those of any other variety. The trees do not come in bearing early, and are not suitable for dwarfing as they overgrow the quince stock. The fruits are nearly perfect if scab-free and properly matured. To make sure of perfect maturity, the pears must be picked as soon as they attain full size and be permitted to ripen under cover. So treated, a bright-cheeked Flemish Beauty is as handsome as any pear, and is almost unapproachable in quality; the flavor is nicely balanced between sweetness and sourness, very rich, and has a pleasing muskiness. Blight and scab condemn tree and fruit for commercial orchards, but a lover of good pears should combat these troubles for the sake of the choice fruits.
The parent tree of this variety is said to have been a wilding found in a wood near Alost, East Flanders, Belgium, about the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was cultivated under the Flemish name of Bosc Peer or Pear of the Woods. About 1810, the propagation of the variety was taken up by Van Mons who introduced it a few years later under the name Fondante des Bois by which name it was known in Europe for many years. Lindley, writing in 1831, described this variety under the name Flemish Beauty, and it appeared then to be in pretty general cultivation in England. Styling it Barnard, Hovey wrote, in 1851, that Flemish Beauty "had been known in Dorchester, Massachusetts, for nearly twenty years," so that it is to be inferred that the variety was introduced to this country prior to 1830 and possibly by some one by the name of Barnard. The rapid distribution of this pear was promoted by Van Mons who gave numerous grafts of it to his friends and correspondents. The fact that the variety has over sixty synonyms may be taken as some testimony to its popularity and excellence. At the first meeting of the American Pomological Society held in 1848, Flemish Beauty was placed in the list of pears recommended for general cultivation, a place it has since retained.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, spreading, with drooping branches, hardy, productive; trunk smooth; branches thick, shaggy, bright reddish-brown, with dull gray scarf-skin, large lenticels; branchlets thick, short, with short internodes, reddish-brown, smooth, glabrous, with many large, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds large, long, obtuse, pointed, nearly free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 3½ in. long, 1⅝ in. wide, oval, thick, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long, usually slender. Flower-buds very large, long, conical or pointed, very plump, free; flowers 1⅛ in. across, in dense clusters, usually 7 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1¼ in. long, slender, slightly pubescent, light green.
Fruit ripe in late September and early October; large, nearly 2½ in. long, 2⅜ in. wide, uniform in size and shape, roundish or obovate-obtuse-pyriform, symmetrical, with nearly equal sides; stem 1¼ in. long, thick; cavity acute, shallow to deep, narrow, slightly russeted, a little furrowed; calyx open; lobes partly separated at the base, short, obtuse; basin shallow, narrow, abrupt, symmetrical; skin thick, tough, roughish, dull; color clear yellow, overspread on the exposed cheek with a dotted and marbled red blush; dots numerous, russet, small, conspicuous; flesh yellowish-white, firm, becoming melting and tender, granular, juicy, sweet, aromatic, with a slight musky flavor; quality very good. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds rather long, plump, acute.
— C.M. Hovey, The Fruits of America (1852)THE FLEMISH BEAUTY PEAR.
Flemish Beauty. Pomological Magazine, vol. iii. pl. 128. La Belle de Flandres, Bouche Nouvelle, Brilliant, Impératrice de France, Joséphine, } Hort. Soc. Cat. 3d Ed. 1842. Josephine, } Fondante du Bois, Bosc Sire, Bosch, Beurré Spence, Van Mons, in Revue des Revues, 1830, p. 180. Barnard, of some collections around Boston.
When Dr. Van Mons was asked, "if his own taste was called upon to decide the question, to which of all his new pears he would give the preference," he immediately replied, "the Beurré Spence," and added, "This fruit, to my taste, is inestimable, and has no competitor." Such would be our reply to the same question, substituting the name of Flemish Beauty for that of Beurré Spence ; for, if large size, beautiful appearance, and delicious flavor, constitute a fine fruit, the former variety possesses them all in a remarkable degree.
Under the name of the Barnard pear, the Flemish Beauty has been known in Dorchester, Mass., for nearly twenty years, before we have any knowledge of its introduction under the latter name, and the inference is, from its answering in every particular to Dr. Van Mons's description of the Beurré Spence, that it is identical with that celebrated variety. Under that name we have received it from English and French collections, and we have ventured to place it among the synonymes above.
There is one peculiarity of the Flemish Beauty which should always be borne in mind by cultivators. If the fruit remains upon the tree until fully ripe, it loses most of its flavor. It should always be gathered while it adheres firmly to the tree ; it then becomes extremely melting and luscious.
The Flemish Beauty, from its vigorous growth, does not come into bearing very early, — about the fifth or sixth year, — but, when it begins to bear, it produces the most abundant crops of large fruit, often measuring twelve inches in circumference. It does not succeed very well upon the quince.
Tree. — Vigorous, with a spreading habit ; in old trees sometimes slightly drooping.
Wood. — Clear reddish brown, with rather numerous whitish specks ; annual shoots long, rather slender, and short-jointed ; buds pointed, prominent, with rather stout shoulders : Flower-buds medium size.
Leaves. — Medium size, ovate, tapering to the point, smooth, deep glossy green, slightly and obtusely serrated, the younger ones flat, the older somewhat folded, and slightly recurved on the midrib ; petioles long, from one and a half to two inches, and rather slender.
Flowers. — Medium size ; petals, obovate, cupped.
Fruit. — Large, about three inches and a half long, and three inches in diameter : Form, oblong-obovate, largest about one third from the crown, and tapering to an obtuse point at the stem : Skin, fair, slightly rough, dull yellow, more or less traced with a rich deep russet, clouded with green, beautifully mottled with crimson in the sun, and covered with russet specks : Stem, medium length, about one inch long, moderately stout, curved, and inserted in a small cavity, rather highest on one side : Eye, small, open, and slightly sunk in a smooth, shallow basin ; segments of the calyx short, pointed : Flesh, white, little coarse, very melting and juicy : Flavor, rich, sugary and delicious, with a high aroma : Core, large : Seeds, small, pale brown.
Ripe the last of September and beginning of October.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Flemish Beauty.
Belle de Flandres, Boesche Nouvelle, Bosch, Fondante du Bois, erroneously, Bosc Sire, Impératrice de France, Beurré Spence, of some, Poire Davy.
Foreign. This variety is deserving of far more general cultivation than it has yet received. It succeeds most admirably on the Quince, and on the rich soils of Illinois, we have seen it far surpass even the most highly nursed specimens of Boston amateur gardens. The tree is vigorous, with upright, dark brown shoots.
Fruit, large, oblong obtuse obovate; color, pale yellow, mostly covered with marblings and patches of light russet, and in sun, rich reddish brown: stem, one to one and a half inch long; cavity, narrow, deep; calyx, short, open; basin, round, small; core, medium, with oblong capsules; seeds, oblong pyriform; flesh, yellowish white, not very fine-grained, juicy, melting, sugary. Last of September. Does not keep long.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Flemish Beauty.* (Belle de Flandres.) Large, obovate, often obscurely tapering to the crown, very obtuse; surface slightly rough, with some reddish-brown russet on pale yellow ground; stalk an inch and a quarter long, rather slender; cavity round, deep, narrow, often acuminate, rim obtusely rounded; basin small, round; flesh juicy, melting, often with a very rich, sweet, and excellent flavor, but variable, and sometimes not high-flavored; needs house-ripening. Early fall. Shoots dark brown, diverging, and ascending; growth vigorous. The fruit often cracks badly unless the trees are sprayed. Belgium. Fig. 715.
— Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co., Stark Bros. Year Book (1910) (1910)Pale yellow, tinged maroon with light russet. Beautiful coloring, sweet, rich, and fruitful. The tree is vigorous and productive. In the North and East it is well adapted for Mexico and the Northwest - bears good crop of perfect fruit.