Oignon
PearOignon
Origin / History
Origin uncertain (Bunyard). André Leroy found Oignon cultivated in the western Departments of France and described it in his Dictionnaire Pomologique (Hedrick cites vol. 2, p. 473, fig., 1869); Bunyard knows of no other describer, so far as he has discovered. Leroy thought it might be the pear Le Lectier called Oignon d'Été de Bretagne in 1628, and Bunyard allows that it may be so. Bunyard calls it "perhaps the most fertile pear grown"; Hedrick says that in England it is "one of the most fertile pears grown." In growth and leaf it is very distinct (Bunyard).
Tree
Growth extremely vigorous. Fertility extraordinary, the branches breaking down through the weight of the fruit. Leaf large, round, held flat, irregularly serrate.
Fruit
Size: Medium, 3 by 3 (Bunyard); above medium (Hedrick).
Form: Flattened round, inclining to Bergamotte shape (Bunyard). Spherical, much flattened at both ends, often smaller on one side than the other (Hedrick).
Stem: Long and woody.
Cavity: Deep.
Calyx: Eye large, open.
Basin: Shallow.
Skin: Rough. Dull yellow, almost covered with patches of rough russet (Bunyard). Thick, gray-fawn, entirely covered with large grayish dots (Hedrick).
Dots: Large, grayish, covering the whole surface (Hedrick).
Flesh and flavor: Whitish, coarse grained, breaking, rather granular around the core. Juice moderate in amount, sweet, saccharine, only slightly perfumed. Quality "second" (Hedrick). Suitable only for cooking (Bunyard).
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
October (Bunyard); end of September (Hedrick).
Uses
Culinary; suitable only for cooking (Bunyard). Grown for market purposes around Maidstone (Bunyard).
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
View original book sources (2)
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)OIGNON. Culinary, October, medium, 3 by 3, flattened round, inclining to Bergamotte shape. Skin, rough. Colour, dull yellow, almost covered with patches of rough russet. Flesh, coarse grained, breaking, suitable only for cooking. Eye, large, open in a shallow basin. Stem, long and woody in a deep cavity. Growth, extremely vigorous; fertility extraordinary. Leaf, large, round, held flat, irregularly serrate. Origin, uncertain. It is described by André Leroy only so far as I have discovered. It may be, as he suggests, the Oignon d'Été de Bretagne, mentioned by Le Lectier in 1628. This is grown for market purposes around Maidstone, and is perhaps the most fertile pear grown, branches breaking down through the weight of the fruit. In growth and leaf it is very distinct.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Oignon.
- Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:473, fig. 1869.
- Bunyard Handb. Hardy Fr. 191. 1920.
This is a variety which Leroy found cultivated in the western Departments of France which he thought might be the same as the pear called by Le Lectier in 1628 Oignon d'Ete de Bretagne. In England it is one of the most fertile pears grown. Fruit above medium, spherical, much flattened at both ends and often smaller on one side than on the other; skin thick and rough, gray-fawn, entirely covered with large grayish dots; flesh whitish, coarse, breaking, rather granular around the core; juice moderate in amount, sweet, saccharine, only slightly perfumed; second; end of Sept.