Muscatelle
PearMuscatelle
Origin / History
One of the last breeding achievements of Major Esperen of Mechlin, Belgium, who died in 1847. The variety was later described by Leroy in his Dictionnaire Pomologique (1869).
Fruit
Size: Small
Form: Nearly globular or globular-conic
Skin: At first water-green, dotted with numerous small round points of brown color; changing to lemon-yellow at maturity
Flesh: Yellowish, transparent, semi-melting or nearly melting
Flavor: Full of sugary juice, strongly scented with musk
Quality: First-rate (dessert quality)
Season
February and March
Tree
Not described in source.
Uses
Dessert pear. The "first" classification indicates premium table fruit.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Source: U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921); original description in Leroy, Dictionnaire Pomologique 2:448 (1869).
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
View original book sources (1)
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Muscatelle.
- Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:448, fig. 1869.
One of the last gains of Major Esperen, Mechlin, Bel., who died in 1847. Fruit small, nearly globular or globular-conic, at first water-green dotted with numerous round points brown in color, changing to lemon-yellow; flesh yellowish, transparent, semi- or nearly melting, full of sugary juice strongly scented with musk; first; Feb. and Mar.