Monchallard
PearMonchallard
Origin / History
Found about 1810 by M. Monchallard in a wood at Valeuil, Dordogne, France. According to a writer in the Revue Horticole (1863, p. 179), the fruit was first named Monsallard. It was also known as Épine d'Été and Épine Rose. Bunyard (1920) notes it as "a very delicious early fruit, now rather overlooked."
Tree
Growth vigorous and upright; fertility very good. (Bunyard)
Fruit
Size and Form: Above medium to large (Hedrick); fairly large, measuring approximately 2½ inches wide by 3¼ inches long (Bunyard). Form long-obovate, very obtuse (Hedrick); pyriform and even (Bunyard).
Stem: Long, moderately stout, set in a shallow cavity. (Bunyard)
Cavity: Shallow. (Bunyard)
Calyx / Eye: Open, set in a shallow basin. (Bunyard)
Basin: Shallow. (Bunyard)
Skin: Smooth (Bunyard). Color yellow — described as clear and dull (Hedrick) or bright yellow (Bunyard), speckled uniformly with numerous greenish dots; often washed with dark red on the cheek toward the sun (Hedrick), or with a slight flush (Bunyard).
Flesh and Flavor: Very white, fine or semi-fine (Hedrick), extremely melting, juicy, saccharine, acidulous, slightly aromatic, and of delicious flavor (Hedrick); flesh very white, juicy, and melting, with flavor described as very delicious (Bunyard).
Core / Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
End of August through September. First quality.
Uses
Dessert. (Bunyard)
Tree — Leaf
Long oval, upfolded, down-hanging, shallowly serrate. (Bunyard)
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1900)
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
View original book sources (2)
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Monchallard.
- Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:429, fig. 1869.
- Bunyard Handb. Hardy Fr. 189. 1920.
Found about 1810 by M. Monchallard at Valeuil, Dordogne, Fr. Fruit above medium to large, long-obovate, very obtuse; skin delicate, yellow, clear and dull, speckled uniformly with greenish dots and often washed with dark red on the cheek next the sun; flesh very white, fine or semi-fine, extremely melting, juicy, saccharine, acidulous, slightly aromatic and of delicious flavor; first; end of Aug. and Sept.
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)MONCHALLARD. Decaisne, V., 17. (Epine d'Eté, Epine Rose.) Dessert, August to September, fairly large, 2½ by 3¼, pyriform, even. Skin, smooth. Colour, bright yellow with slight flush and strewn with numerous greenish dots. Flesh, very white, juicy, melting, flavour very delicious. Eye, open in a shallow basin. Stem, long, moderately stout, in a shallow cavity. Growth, vigorous, upright; fertility very good. Leaf, long oval, upfolded, down hanging, shallow serrate. Origin, found in a wood at Valeuil (Dordogne), about 1810, by M. Monchallard. According to a writer in the Revue Horticole (1863, 179), the fruit was first named Monsallard. A very delicious early fruit, now rather overlooked.