Marquise
Pear
Marquise
Origin/History
Of French origin. Merlet described the variety in 1675 in his Abrege des bons fruits. It appears in Duhamel's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers (2:221, Pl. XLIX, 1768) and in Hogg's Fruit Manual (614, 1884). Coxe included it in his 1817 American pomological survey without noting its origin.
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size: The two sources conflict: Coxe calls it "a very large pear," while Hedrick describes it as "above medium."
Form: Coxe describes the shape as pyramidal, rather flat at the crown, and gradually lessening toward the stalk. Hedrick characterizes it as turbinate, globular in the lower part, conic and slightly obtuse in the upper — consistent with Coxe's pyramidal description at a finer level of detail.
Stem: Large, about an inch long (Coxe).
Cavity: Furrowed (Coxe).
Calyx: Not described in source.
Basin: Not described in source.
Skin: Coxe: even, green, with dots of a deeper green, growing yellow when fully ripe; sometimes showing a light shade of red on the side toward the sun. Hedrick: bright green changing to yellowish, with a brownish tinge on the side next the sun, and thickly covered with dots that are green on the shaded side and brown or gray on the sun-exposed side. The two sources disagree on the sun-side blush color: Coxe reports a light red, Hedrick reports brownish.
Flesh and Flavor: The sources conflict on texture. Coxe describes the flesh as buttery and melting, the juice sweet, mild, and sometimes a little musky. Hedrick describes the flesh as white, semi-fine, and breaking — rather than buttery — and the juice as full, sugary, slightly acid, and musky, and very delicate. Both sources note the musky element.
Core/Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Ripens in November and December (both sources agree).
Uses
A good dessert pear (Hedrick).
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 (1900) from England
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900
View original book sources (2)
— William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817)
- MARQUISE.
This is a very large pear of pyramidal shape, rather flat at the crown, gradually lessening to the stalk, which is large and about an inch long, planted in a furrowed cavity—the skin is even, and green, with dots of a deeper green, growing yellow when fully ripe; sometimes a light shade of red towards the sun—the flesh is buttery and melting, the juice sweet, mild, and sometimes a little musky; it ripens in November and December.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Marquise.
- Duhamel Trait. Arb.Fr. 2:221, Pl. XLIX. 1768. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 614. 1884.
Of French origin. Merlet described it in 1675 in his Abrege des bons fruits. Fruit above medium, turbinate, globular in the lower part, conic and slightly obtuse in the upper, bright green changing to yellowish, with a brownish tinge on the side next the sun, thickly covered with dots, which are green on the shaded side and brown or gray on the other; flesh white, semi-fine, breaking, full of sugary juice, slightly acid and musky, and very delicate; a good dessert pear; Nov. and Dec.