Honey

Origin/History

Honey is a pear of ancient and uncertain European origin, known on the Continent under its original name Deux Fois L'An, or "Two Times a Year," so called because the tree flowers twice in the season, the second crop ripening in September or October (Hedrick). Le Lectier at Orleans possessed it in his extensive orchard in 1598, and Merlet described it in 1675 (Hedrick). It was first noted in American pomological literature in Prince's Pomological Manual (1832), and again by Downing (1869); its European identity as Deux Fois L'An was recorded by Leroy in his Dictionnaire de Pomologie (1869) (Hedrick). Despite being considerably grown in many parts of the country, its origin was considered unknown to American authors, and Downing noted it was not recorded by any of them. Elliott records that the variety was received by Professor Kirkland and could not be matched to any published description except for a slight note in Prince's Pomological Manual.

Tree

The tree is moderately vigorous with yellowish-brown wood (Elliott). Downing describes it as upright in habit and a good grower, and a great bearer. Elliott concurs that it is an early and productive bearer, yielding fruit that is uniform in size and of regular shape.

Fruit

Size: Below medium (Elliott, Hedrick); medium or below (Downing).

Form: Roundish, tapering slightly to the stem (Elliott); roundish, sometimes roundish pyriform (Downing); globular-pyriform, rarely very obtuse, generally much swelled in the lower part and diminishing abruptly toward the stem (Hedrick).

Stem: Rather stout, uneven, and set without depression (Elliott). Downing agrees it is short and rather stout.

Cavity: Elliott specifies there is no depression at the stem end.

Calyx: Open, with half-reflexed segments (Elliott); open (Downing).

Basin: Shallow, with a little russet (Elliott); broad and shallow (Downing).

Skin: The sources describe the color with some variation. Elliott gives "rich golden russet yellow, with a faint blush, many small red russet dots, and occasional patches of brown russet." Downing describes "pale yellow, shaded and mottled with red in the sun, with many light russet dots, and sometimes patches of russet." Hedrick characterizes the color as "rather bright greenish-yellow, stained and dotted with gray chiefly on the side exposed to the sun, where it is also rayed and washed with carmine."

Flesh/Flavor: Elliott describes the flesh as yellowish white, juicy, buttery, a little coarse-grained, sweet, and perfumed. Downing gives whitish flesh, coarse, breaking, moderately juicy, sweet, and pleasant. Hedrick describes the flesh as yellowish, coarse, semi-breaking, and granular around the core; the juice is sufficient, sugary, and possesses a pleasant, musky flavor.

Core/Seeds: Core medium (Elliott). Seeds ovate and blackish (Elliott). Flesh is granular around the core (Hedrick).

Season

Ripens a few days before Bartlett (Elliott); August (Downing, Hedrick). Hedrick additionally notes that because the tree flowers twice in the season, a second crop can ripen in September or October.

Uses

Dessert quality rated "Good" (Downing).

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Elliott notes that the drawing accompanying his description was rendered too small to fully represent the fruit. The pear is described by Hedrick under its European synonym Deux Fois L'An in Leroy's Dictionnaire de Pomologie (1869, vol. 2, p. 20, with figure).