Franc-Real
PearFranc-Real
Origin and History
Mentioned by Charles Estienne in 1540 and other French authorities of the seventeenth century. The variety appears in Duhamel's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers (1768), Leroy's Dictionnaire Pomologique (1869), and Downing's Fruit Trees of America (1869).
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size and Form: Above medium and often larger; globular-turbinate and bossed.
Skin: Golden-yellow, strewed with large russet dots and some brownish-red patches.
Flesh and Flavor: Very white, breaking texture, juicy, hardly sweet, rather acid, without perfume.
Stem, Cavity, Calyx, Basin, Core, and Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
November to February.
Uses
First for cooking.
Subtypes and Variants
Known also as Franc Real d'Hiver.
Source: U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921).
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
View original book sources (1)
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Franc-Real,
- Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:180. 1768.
- Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:194, fig. 1869. Franc Real d'Hiver.
- Downing Fr. Trees Am. 766. 1869.
Mentioned by Charles Estienne in 1540, and other French authorities of the seventeenth century. Fruit above medium and often larger, globular-turbinate and bossed, golden-yellow, strewed with large russet dots, and some brownish-red patches; flesh very white, breaking, juicy, hardly sweet, rather acid, without perfume; first for cooking; Nov. to Feb.