Gros Rousselet
PearGros Rousselet Pear
Origin and History
The variety has ancient cultivated roots and complex nomenclature across European regions. Rea documented it under cultivation in England in 1665 as the Great Russet of Remes (also Gros Rousselet de Rheims), where it was cultivated alongside a distinct smaller strain, the Petit-Rousselet. In France, the variety was also known as Roi d'Été (King of Summer).
The pear holds particular significance to the Apennine region of Italy. Father Rapin, a French Jesuit, wrote in his 1666 poem Hortorum of pears called Rousselet growing in the Valley of Amiterne at the foot of the Apennines. This geographic tradition suggests the variety's ancient provenance in Mediterranean cultivation.
Nineteenth-century pomological scholarship suggests even deeper antiquity: in 1783, the German pomologist Henri Manger proposed that the French Rousselet was identical to the Favonianum mentioned by Pliny in classical Roman texts, though this identification remains uncertain.
Fruit Description
Form and Size: Medium in size, obtuse-pyriform (broadly pear-shaped, rounded at the wider end).
Skin: Yellowish-green or bright green ground color that changes to bright lemon-yellow at maturity. The surface is densely covered with numerous small brown spots. The side of the fruit exposed to the sun develops pronounced red coloration.
Flesh: Yellowish in color, with a semi-melting, semi-breaking texture (between fully melting and crisp). The flesh is rich in sugary juice and distinctly perfumed, contributing to the variety's historical reputation.
Flavor and Quality: The variety exhibits variable quality and requires a warm, sheltered growing position to develop its characteristic rich, sugary, perfumed character.
Season and Uses
Ripens in August and September. The variety's name (Rousselet = russet) reflects its characteristic brown spotting and russeted surface.
Sources: Leroy, Dictionnaire de Pomologie (1869); Hogg, Fruit Manual (1884); Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1869); 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)Gros Rousselet.
- Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:250, fig. 1869.
- Hogg Fruit Man. 590. 1884. Roi d'Ete.
- Downing Fr. Trees Am. 843. 1869.
Mentioned by Rea as being cultivated in England in 1665 under the name of Great Russet of Remes, under which name it was also known in France, there being known these two varieties, the Gros Rousselet de Rheims and the Petit-Rousselet. Father Rapin, a French Jesuit, who wrote in 1666 the poem Hortorum, mentioned the pears of Rousselet in the Valley of Amiterne at the foot of the Apennines. In 1783 the German pomologist Henri Manger wrote that he believed the French Rousselet was none other than the Roman Favonianum mentioned by Pliny.
Fruit medium, obtuse-pyriform, yellowish or bright green changing to bright lemon-yellow, covered with numerous small brown spots, red on the side next the sun; flesh yellowish, semi-melting, semi-breaking, rich in sugary and perfumed juice; variable in quality, requires a warm, sheltered position; Aug. and Sept.