Jefferson

Pear

Jefferson Pear

Origin/History

Origin is given as Mississippi by Downing. However, Hedrick notes that in a Report from Georgia to the American Pomological Society in 1873, P. Barry described a Jefferson pear as a native of Alabama — a conflicting attribution that may indicate either two distinct varieties sharing the name, or uncertainty about the precise origin state. The variety appears in Downing's Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1869) and was reported to the American Pomological Society in 1873.

Tree

Very vigorous. An early bearer and very productive.

Fruit

Size: Large.

Form: Roundish obtuse pyriform.

Stem: Not described in source.

Cavity: Not described in source.

Calyx: Not described in source.

Basin: Not described in source.

Skin: Straw color, shaded with red in the sun, dotted with small green dots.

Flesh/Flavor: White, not juicy, sweet, coarse, not highly flavored. Decays quickly at the core.

Core/Seeds: Not described in source.

Season

August. Hedrick's citation of the 1873 APS report characterizes it as an early summer fruit.

Uses

Not described in source.

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Not described in source.

Book Sources

Described in 2 period pomological works

Nursery Catalog Sources

Found in 1 catalog (1893) from Florida

Glen St. Mary Nurseries (G.L. Taber , Proprietor), Glen St. Mary , Florida — 1893

View original book sources (2)

JEFFERSON.

Origin, Mississippi. Tree very vigorous, an early bearer, and very productive.

Fruit large, roundish obtuse pyriform, straw color, shaded with red in the sun, and dotted with small green dots. Flesh white, not juicy, sweet, coarse, decays quickly at core, not high-flavored. August.

— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)

Jefferson.

Downing Fr. Trees Am. 791. 1869. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 119. 1873.

In a Report from Georgia to the American Pomological Society in 1873, P. Barry wrote of a Jefferson pear as a native of Alabama and an early summer fruit. Downing gives the following description of a pear of the same name originating in Mississippi. Fruit large, roundish-obtuse-pyriform, straw-color, shaded with red in the sun, and dotted with small green dots; flesh white, not juicy, sweet, coarse, decays quickly at core, not highly flavored; Aug.

— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)