Passe Colmar
Pear
Passe Colmar
Origin/History
This Belgian pear was raised in 1758 at Mons by the Abbé Hardenpont, the Belgian priest and horticulturist (Hedrick; Downing identifies him as "the Counsellor Hardenpont"). Extensively cultivated in Belgium, it acquired a great diversity of names in different localities. From Belgium it passed first to Germany toward the end of the eighteenth century, and early in the nineteenth century was taken to France. Soon after the close of the Napoleonic wars, about 1817, it was received in England, where it became one of the standard winter pears. Within a few years after its introduction in England, the variety found its way to America, where for a time it was quite extensively grown. The American Pomological Society added Passe Colmar to its fruit-list in 1862 but dropped it in 1899. By Hedrick's time (1921) the variety was little known in America.
Tree
Medium in size, vigorous, upright, tall, and rapid-growing, productive. Trunk slender. Branches medium in thickness and smoothness, reddish-brown, almost entirely overspread with thick, gray scarf-skin, marked by large, conspicuous lenticels. Branchlets thick, long, light brown mingled with green, dull, smooth, pubescent only near the ends of the new growth, sprinkled with few small, raised, inconspicuous lenticels (Hedrick). Downing and Elliott both note the characteristic long, bending or straggling, half-drooping shoots; Downing describes the young shoot color as dark olive yellow brown, while Elliott calls them a lively brownish yellow.
Leaf-buds short, plump, free, thick at the base; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 3 in. long, 1½ in. wide, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin tipped with few small glands, finely serrate to nearly entire; petiole 2 in. long, glabrous, pinkish-green. Flower-buds small, short, thick, conical, plump, free, borne singly as lateral buds or on very short spurs. Flowers late, showy, 1½ in. across, unusually large, in dense clusters averaging 6 buds per cluster; pedicels ½ in. long, thick, thinly pubescent (Hedrick).
The tree is hardy and as free as the average pear from blight (Hedrick). It is an abundant bearer. On standard stocks and heavy soils it grows very vigorously, producing many but small and poor fruits. Checking vigor by dwarfing on quince or planting on poor soil suits the variety (Hedrick). The tree grows almost too thriftily, making long bending shoots, and owing to this over-luxuriance the fruit is often second-rate on young trees; on old trees, with high cultivation, it is sometimes of the best quality (Downing).
Fruit
Size and Form: Rather large (Downing); medium in size, 2⅝ in. long, 2½ in. wide (Hedrick); medium to large (Elliott). Form obovate to obtuse pyriform, varying considerably (Downing); obovate-obtuse-pyriform, somewhat irregular (Hedrick); oblong obovate, obtuse pyriform (Elliott).
Stem: Downing gives the stem as an inch and a half long; Hedrick gives it as 1 in. long, very thick. Elliott describes it as a little more than medium length.
Cavity: Obtuse and uneven, or sometimes without depression (Downing). Obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted, slightly furrowed (Hedrick). Slight depression (Elliott).
Calyx: Open (Downing); partly open, lobes separated at the base, rather narrow, acute (Hedrick); partly open (Elliott).
Basin: Shallow (Downing and Elliott); shallow, narrow, obtuse, gently furrowed (Hedrick).
Skin: Rather thick (Downing); thick, granular, tender, roughish (Hedrick). Color yellowish green, becoming yellow at maturity, a good deal sprinkled with brown russet especially around the stalk and calyx (Downing); greenish-yellow, sprinkled with reddish-brown and russet patches and nettings, with numerous, small, russet, obscure dots (Hedrick); yellowish green, dull yellow when fully mature, with some russet (Elliott).
Flesh and Flavor: Yellowish white (Downing and Elliott); tinged with yellow (Hedrick). Buttery and juicy (Downing and Elliott); granular, tender, buttery, very juicy (Hedrick). Flavor rich, sweet, and aromatic (Downing and Elliott); sweet, vinous, aromatic, exceedingly sugary, mildly spiced with cinnamon — a flavor described by Hedrick as uniquely distinct from the piquant flavor most common in winter pears. Quality rated good to very good (Downing); very good (Hedrick). Under unsuitable conditions — heavy, cold clay soils — Hedrick observed the flesh to be crisp and gritty rather than buttery and fine.
Core and Seeds: Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, plump, acute (Hedrick). Not described in other sources.
Season
December to January (Downing and Hedrick). Elliott gives November to January, indicating a slightly earlier ripening under some conditions.
Uses
A good winter sort for home or market (Hedrick). Elliott is emphatic that with high culture, severe thinning, and great care it is a first-class sort, but with common ordinary care it is worthless.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
This is a very variable fruit and often poor (Downing; Hedrick concurs). On unsuitable soils and under indifferent care, the pears are unattractive and poor in quality; the variety performs best under appropriate cultural conditions on well-drained, suitable soils (Hedrick). The chief fault of the variety is variability of product (Hedrick). The flavor, when the variety is at its best — exceedingly sugary and mildly cinnamon-spiced — is considered sufficiently distinctive to make it worth growing for the sake of diversity among winter pears (Hedrick).
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 3 catalogs (1864–1911) from England, Oregon
- St. Helena Nursery , Howell's Prairie, Marion County , Oregon — 1864
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
View original book sources (3)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Passe Colmar.
Ananas d'Hiver. Gambier. Passe Colmar Epineaux. Cellite. Colmar Gris. Colmar Preule. Passe Colmar Gris. Pucelle Condesienne. Beurre Colmar Gris, dit Precel. Bergentin. Precel. Colmar Epineaux. Fondante de Mons. Beurre Chapman. Beurre d'Argenson. Chapman's. Regintin. Colmar Bonnet. Colmar Hardenpont. Passe Colmar Vineux. Present de Malines. Colmar de Silly. Marotte Sucree Jaune. Preul. Souveraine d'Hiver. Imperatrice. Colmar Souveraine. Souveraine.
The Passe Colmar is a Belgian Pear, raised by the Counsellor Hardenpont. Vigorous growth, and abundant bearer. It grows indeed almost too thriftily making long bending shoots, and owing to this over-luxuriance the fruit is often second-rate on young trees, but on old trees, with high cultivation, it is sometimes of the best quality. It is a very variable fruit, and often poor. The young shoots are of a dark olive yellow brown.
Fruit rather large, varying considerably from obovate to obtuse pyriform. Skin rather thick, yellowish green, becoming yellow at maturity, a good deal sprinkled with brown russet, especially around the stalk and calyx. Stalk an inch and a half long, inserted in an obtuse, uneven cavity, or sometimes without depression. Calyx open. Basin shallow. Flesh yellowish white, buttery, and juicy, with a rich, sweet, aromatic flavor. Good to very good. December, January.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)PASSE COLMAR
- Trans. Lond. Hort. Soc. 5:410. 1824. 2. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 403. 1831. 3. Prince Pom. Man. 1:101. 1831. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 444, fig. 205. 1845. 5. Gard. Chron. 185, fig. 1845. 6. Mag. Hort. 15:445, fig. 39. 1849. 7. Gard. Chron. 989. 1861. 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 70. 1862. 9. Pom. France 1: No. 2, Pl. 2. 1863. 10. Mas Le Verger 1:121, fig. 59. 1866-73. 11. Leroy Dict. Pom. 3:499, figs. 1869. 12. Guide Prat. 60, 293. 1876. 13. Hogg Fruit Man. 627. 1884. 14. Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom. 436, fig. 1904. Preul's Colmar. 15. Liegel Syst. Anleit. 104. 1825. Regenlin. 16. Dochnahl Führ. Obstkunde 2:103. 1856. 17. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 268. 1889. 18. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 61, Pl. 88. 1894.
Little known in America, this is one of the standard winter pears in England. The fruits are exceedingly sugary, mildly spiced with cinnamon, a flavor so unique, especially when compared with the piquant flavor most common in winter pears, that the variety is worth growing where it succeeds for the sake of diversity. The chief fault of the variety is variability of product. On unsuitable soils and under indifferent care, the pears are unattractive and poor in quality. The accompanying illustration, it is to be feared, shows the variety at its worst rather than at its best, since it does not thrive on the heavy, cold clay of the Station lands. Under conditions at this Station, the flesh is crisp and gritty, rather than buttery and fine as it seems to be under more suitable conditions. The trees are very vigorous on standard stocks and heavy soils, with the result that the fruits are many but small and poor; checking vigor by dwarfing on quince or planting on poor soil suits the variety. The trees are hardy and as free as the average pear from blight. The variety is a good winter sort for home or market.
This variety was raised in 1758 at Mons by the Abbé Hardenpont, the Belgian priest and horticulturist. Extensively cultivated in Belgium, it acquired a great diversity of names in different localities. From that country it passed first to Germany toward the end of the eighteenth century, and early in the nineteenth was taken to France. Soon after the close of the Napoleonic wars, about 1817, it was received in England. Within a few years after its introduction in England, the variety found its way to America where, for a time, it was quite extensively grown. The American Pomological Society added Passe Colmar to its fruit-list in 1862 but dropped it in 1899.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright, tall, rapid-growing, productive; trunk slender; branches medium in thickness and smoothness, reddish-brown almost entirely overspread with thick, gray scarf-skin, marked by large, conspicuous lenticels; branchlets thick, long, light brown mingled with green, dull, smooth, pubescent only near the ends of the new growth, sprinkled with few small, raised, inconspicuous lenticels.
Leaf-buds short, plump, free, thick at the base; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 3 in. long, 1½ in. wide, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin tipped with few small glands, finely serrate to nearly entire; petiole 2 in. long, glabrous, pinkish-green. Flower-buds small, short, thick, conical, plump, free, singly as lateral buds or on very short spurs; flowers late, showy, 1½ in. across, unusually large, in dense clusters, average 6 buds in a cluster; pedicels ½ in. long, thick, thinly pubescent.
Fruit ripe December to January; medium in size, 2⅝ in. long, 2½ in. wide, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, somewhat irregular; stem 1 in. long, very thick; cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted, slightly furrowed; calyx partly open; lobes separated at the base, rather narrow, acute; basin shallow, narrow, obtuse, gently furrowed; skin thick, granular, tender, roughish; color greenish-yellow, sprinkled with reddish-brown and russet patches and nettings; dots numerous, small, russet, obscure; flesh tinged with yellow, granular, tender, buttery, very juicy, sweet, vinous, aromatic; quality very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, plump, acute.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Passe Colmar.
Passe Colmar Epineaux, Colmar Gris, Passe Colmar Gris, Beurre Colmar Gris, dit Precel, Precel, Fondante de Panisel, Fondante de Mons, Beurre d'Argenson, Regintin, Chapman's, Colmar de Sille, Colmar Hardenpont, Present de Malines, Marrotte Sucree Jaune, Souverain, Colmar Souverain, Gambier, Cellite, Colmar Preule, Colmar Doree, Colmar Van Mons, Colmar d'Hiver.
Foreign. Tree, vigorous, with long, stragling, half drooping shoots of a lively brownish yellow; with high culture, severe thinning, and great care, it is a first-class sort : with common ordinary care it is worthless. Fruit, medium to large, oblong obovate, obtuse pyriform, yellowish green, dull yellow when fully mature, with some russet ; stem, a little more than medium length, set with slight depression; calyx, partly open ; basin, shallow ; flesh, yellowish white, buttery, sweet, aromatic. November, January.