COMPTE DE LAMY. Beurré Curte, Marie Louise the Second, Dingler, Marie Louise Nova. Foreign. Tree, upright. Fruit, medium, roundish obovate, yellow, brownish red cheek, small russet dots; stem, long; calyx, small; flesh, white, fine-grained, buttery; "good." Early October.

— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)

COMTE DE LAMY.

Beurre Curtet. Beurre Quitelet. Comte Lamay. Dingler. Bis Curtet. Beurre Cutter. Henri Van Mons, erroneously.

Originated in Belgium in 1828. Tree vigorous, spreading.

Fruit of medium size, oblate pyriform. Skin yellow, with a brownish red cheek, and sprinkled with patches and small russety dots. Stalk an inch long, straight, obliquely inserted under a lip, or planted in a slight cavity. Calyx open, set in a shallow basin. Flesh white, fine-grained, buttery, melting, sweet. Good. Last of September to middle of October.

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

Comte de Lamy. Rather small, roundish-obovate (Bloodgood-shaped); yellow, with dots and thin russet; stalk an inch long, set under a lip, scarcely sunk; basin shallow; juicy, melting, refreshing, agreeable. October. Shoots reddish, erect.

— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)

COMTE DE LAMY. Her. Pom. II., 70. F. Beurre Curtet, G. Curtet's Butterbirne. Dessert, October to November, small, short conical or peg top, a little uneven, generally lop-sided. Skin, smooth. Colour, pale green changing to yellow and often a little russet with many small russet dots. Flesh, white, very melting, most delicious, quite first class. Eye, open in a wide shallow basin often russetted. Stem, ¾ inch, woody, usually inserted by a small bump on the surface. Growth, moderate, low spreading tree; fertility good. Leaf, flat, edges undulated, irregularly serrate or entire, turns orange yellow. Origin, raised by M. Bouvier, of Jodoigne, in 1828, and dedicated to Curtet, professor at Brussels. The correct name is Beurre Curtet. A most delicious fruit which deserves wider culture and which forms a worthy predecessor to Doyenne du Comice.

— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)

LAMY

1. Ragan Nom. Pear, B. P. I. Bul. 126:161. 1908.

Comte de Lamy. 2. Kenrick Am. Orch. 141. 1841. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 371, fig. 158. 1845. 4. Gard. Chron. 20, fig. 1846. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 727. 1869. 6. Jour. Hort. N. S. 38:359, fig. 52. 1880. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 553. 1884.

Poire Dingler. 8. Ann. Pom. Belge 2:69, Pl. 1854.

Beurré Curtet. 9. Pom. France 2: No. 77, Pl. 77. 1864. 10. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:341, figs. 1867. 11. Guide Prat. 65, 243. 1876.

Curtet's Butterbirne. 12. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 200. 1889.

As the history shows, this is an old European pear which had its probationary period in America many years ago, and which never got out of the limbo of nurserymen's catalogs and collections. On the grounds of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, however, the pears are so handsome and so delectable in quality that the variety seems quite worth while describing and illustrating among the major sorts. It is a splendid pear for the home orchard, but the tree is not large nor robust enough for a commercial plantation. A few nurserymen still list it.

This variety was raised from seed about 1828 by M. Bouvier, Jodoigne, Belgium. It was first named Beurré Curtet in honor of M. Curtet, a physician and professor at Brussels. The London Horticultural Society first obtained the variety under the name Comte de Lamy, by which name it has best been known in England. Lamy was early introduced to America where trees have long been found in collections.

Tree small, spreading, open-topped, hardy, productive; trunk slender, shaggy; branches slender, shaggy, dull brown, overspread with thick scarf-skin, sprinkled with numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, curved, short, with short internodes, brown changing to reddish-brown on the newer growth, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with small, raised, conspicuous lenticels.

Leaf-buds small, short, conical, pointed, plump, free. Leaves 2½ in. long, 1¾ in. wide, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate to nearly entire, tipped with few minute glands; petiole 1¼ in. long, pinkish. Flower-buds large, thick, long, conical, very plump, free, singly as lateral buds or on very short spurs; flowers late, very showy, 1¼ in. across, in dense clusters, average 9 buds in a cluster; pedicels ¾ in. long, thick, lightly pubescent.

Fruit matures in late October and early November; medium in size, 2⅝ in. long, 2 in. wide, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, often irregular and with unequal sides; stem 1¼ in. long, thick; cavity almost lacking, very obtuse and shallow, narrow, russeted, often lipped; calyx open; lobes broad, acute; basin rather deep, obtuse or abrupt, gently furrowed, compressed; skin thin, smooth except for the russet dots, dull; color yellow, with a solid, dark red blush on the exposed cheek; dots numerous, large, brownish-russet, very conspicuous; flesh tinged with yellow, granular at the center, tender and melting, buttery, juicy, sweet, with a faint, vinous flavor, pleasantly aromatic; quality good to very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, very wide, conical; seeds large, wide, plump, acute.

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

LAMY. This is an old European pear which had its probationary period in America many years ago, and which never got out of the limbo of nurserymen's catalogs and collections. On the grounds of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, however, the pears are so handsome and so delectable in quality that the variety seems quite worth growing. It is a good sort for the home orchard, but the tree is not large enough nor robust enough for a commercial plantation. A few nurserymen still list it.

This variety was raised from seed about 1828 by M. Bouvier, Jodoigne, Belgium.

Tree inferior in size, spreading, open-topped, hardy, productive; trunk slender, shaggy; branches slender, shaggy, dull brown, sprinkled with numerous lenticels.

October and early November; 2½ inches long, 2¼ inches wide; stem ¾ inch long, thick, curved, obtuse; cavity small, obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted, often lipped; calyx open; lobes broad, acute; basin deep, obtuse, gently furrowed, compressed; skin thin, smooth except for the russet dots, dull; color pale yellow, with a dark red blush on the cheek; dots numerous, large, brownish-russet, very conspicuous; flesh tinged with yellow, fine-grained, tender, juicy, sweet; quality good; core small, closed; calyx-tube wide, conical; seeds large, wide, plump, acute.

— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)