Moorfowl Egg

[NOTE: Source text may be incorrect — Coxe, Downing, Thomas, Bunyard, and Hedrick's "Swan Egg" entry describe Swan's Egg, and Downing and Thomas call "Moor-fowl Egg" an incorrect name for that pear. Hedrick, however, gives Moorfowl Egg its own entry as an old Scotch pear "partaking somewhat of the character of Swan Egg." The sections below follow Hedrick's Moorfowl Egg entry. The Swan's Egg material, which applies to fruit circulating under this name, is placed under Other.]

Origin / History

Moorfowl Egg is an old Scotch dessert pear, "partaking somewhat of the character of Swan Egg" (Hedrick). Hedrick's earliest reference is Lindley, 1831 (p. 361). Hogg, in 1884 (Fruit Man., p. 619), gives it as "Muirfowl Egg." Downing, followed by Thomas, does not admit it as a separate variety and treats the name as an incorrect one for Swan's Egg.

Tree

Not described in source.

Fruit

Size: Below medium.

Form: Globular.

Stem: Not described in source.

Cavity: Not described in source.

Calyx: Not described in source.

Basin: Not described in source.

Skin: Dull green changing to yellow-green, mottled with red next the sun.

Dots: Pale brown-russety, thickly strewed.

Flesh and flavor: Flesh yellowish, semi-buttery, tender; sweet and with a slight perfume.

Core and seeds: Not described in source.

Season

October.

Uses

Dessert.

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Swan's Egg, the pear to which Downing and Thomas say the name Moorfowl Egg has been incorrectly applied, is a very old English variety, known for some years according to Bunyard. Batty Langley first described it in 1729; Hedrick cites Langley's Pomona, p. 132, Pl. LXIV. Hedrick notes that Lindley recommended it as suitable in the Highlands of Scotland. Downing calls it "a very old Pear, unworthy cultivation." Coxe records that many called it the Poire d'Auch, which he held to be an error. Forsyth says the Poire d'Auch resembles the Colmart, but fuller in the neck. The Abbé Rozier delineates the Colmart as a very different pear, much larger, with a distinct neck (Coxe's figure no. 44). Bunyard gives the tree a slender, very upright growth and great fertility, with leaves fairly large, oval, almost entire.

Fruit small to medium, or "of ordinary size" (Coxe), measuring 2½ by 2½ inches (Bunyard). Form oval or elliptical to globular-ovate; Bunyard alone calls it round, a little conical. Stem long; very long and slender, woody (Bunyard). Eye open, almost on the surface (Bunyard).

Skin green to pale green or yellowish green, thinly covered in part or washed with brown to pale brown on the sunny side, and dotted with brownish specks (Downing). Hedrick calls the skin smooth, yellowish green on the shaded side, clear brownish red on the cheek exposed to the sun, and covered with pale brown russet. Bunyard calls it rough, greenish yellow, almost covered with thick brown russet, occasionally with a dull brown flush.

Flesh white to yellowish white, soft, tender, melting, fairly juicy to very juicy, "full of a pleasant musky juice" (Coxe). Bunyard alone calls it rather firm. Flavor sweet, somewhat or a little musky, with a musky aroma. Hedrick adds that it is piquant and rates it "good." Most authors give October, and Bunyard classes it as a dessert pear. Coxe says it ripens in November and "with care may be preserved for some time."