Melt in the Mouth

Origin/History

Origin in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Listed in Elliott (1865) under the synonyms "Melting Mouth" and "Melting." Thomas (1903) confirms Pennsylvania origin.

Tree

The tree is moderately vigorous and spreading in habit. Young shoots are long, slender, and dark reddish brown, with a downy texture at their ends. No further tree characteristics described in sources.

Fruit

Size and Form

The fruit is medium in size, or rather below medium (Downing) to rather small (Thomas). All sources agree on a roundish form. Downing and Elliott note it is slightly conic; Thomas describes it as slightly flattened; Elliott describes it as roundish flattened and slightly conical, indicating a somewhat compressed-conic shape.

Skin

Sources differ on ground color and markings and should be carefully compared for identification purposes:

• Downing (1900): Deep red, splashed and marbled on a yellow ground, with a few small white dots.
• Elliott (1865): Deep red on a green ground, with small white dots.
• Thomas (1903): Skin greenish yellow, indistinctly striped and shaded with red, with russet dots.

Downing and Elliott agree on a deep red coloring with small white dots, but disagree on the ground color (yellow vs. green). Thomas describes a predominantly greenish yellow skin with only indistinct red striping and shading, and specifies russet dots rather than white dots — a notably different appearance from the other two accounts.

Stem

Downing and Elliott agree that the stalk is long, slender, and curved. Thomas, by contrast, describes the stalk as short. Elliott and Downing agree on the slender, curved character.

Cavity

Downing describes a small cavity. Elliott describes it as broad and deep. Thomas describes it as shallow and obtuse. All three accounts differ from one another on this feature.

Calyx

Downing describes the calyx as closed. Elliott likewise describes it as small and closed. Thomas describes the calyx as open — in direct conflict with Downing and Elliott.

Basin

Downing describes a rather abrupt basin. Thomas describes it as shallow and obtuse. Elliott does not separately characterize the basin.

Flesh and Flavor

• Downing (1900): Flesh yellowish white, tender, juicy, with a mild, rather rich, pleasant subacid flavor, somewhat resembling Summer Bearmain. Rated very good.
• Elliott (1865): Flesh white, tender, juicy, rich, mild sub-acid. Rated very good.
• Thomas (1903): Flesh yellow, with a rich, aromatic, rather acid, and very good flavor.

Downing and Elliott agree on tender, juicy, mild sub-acid flesh of very good quality. Thomas describes the flesh as yellow (vs. yellowish white or white) and the flavor as rich and aromatic but characterizes it as rather acid rather than mild sub-acid.

Core and Seeds

Not described in any source.

Season

• Downing (1900): September to November.
• Elliott (1865): October and November.
• Thomas (1903): Ripens through autumn.

All sources place the fruit in the autumn season, with Downing noting the earliest ripening beginning in September.

Uses

Not described in sources.

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in sources.

Other

Downing notes a flavor resemblance to Summer Bearmain. The considerable disagreement among the three sources — particularly Thomas (1903) vs. Downing and Elliott on stalk length, cavity depth, calyx position, ground color, dot character, and flesh color — may reflect variation between strains, differences in the specimens examined, or the possibility that Thomas's entry describes a distinct form or a mislabeled specimen. Both versions of the description are preserved above in full for comparison.