Petit-Muscat
PearPetit-Muscat
Origin / History
Petit-Muscat is a very small French pear (Downing, Thomas); Elliott lists it as foreign. Charles Estienne was the first to write of it in France, in 1530, and he named it Musquette. Various other pomologists wrote of it before Mayer, among them Jacq. Daléchamp, 1615; Jean Jonston, 1662; and Henri Manger, 1783. Jean Mayer, director of the gardens of the Grand Duke of Wurtzburg, Bavaria, showed in his Pomona franconica, published in 1801, that Petit-Muscat was the antique pear Superba described by Pliny. Hedrick cites it in Knoop's Fructologie (1:75, Tab. 1), 1771, and in Leroy's Dict. Pom. (2:522, fig.), 1869.
In America, Coxe described it in 1817 as the "Petit Muscat, Little Musk, or Primitive Pear." Elliott, Downing, and Thomas carried it under the name Little Muscat, the name under which Hedrick cites Downing's Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, 1869. Downing calls it "well known in many of our gardens."
Tree
Tree resembling the Catharine in form (Coxe). It does not produce fruit early, but when it has attained the proper age it is an abundant bearer (Coxe). Downing calls it very productive. The fruit is borne in clusters (Coxe).
Fruit
Size: Very small to small. Downing calls it a "very little French Pear," and Hedrick also says very small; Thomas gives quite small and Elliott small.
Form: Turbinate, in Hedrick's account more or less obtuse and sometimes globular-turbinate. Coxe calls the form round rather than long.
Stem: Short (Coxe).
Cavity: Not described in source.
Calyx: Eye always naked, in consequence of the segments of the calyx falling off (Hedrick).
Basin: Eye placed in a regular-formed cavity (Hedrick).
Skin: Yellow, with a cheek on the side next the sun. The cheek is dull red (Elliott, Downing), reddish brown (Coxe, of the fully ripe fruit), or brownish (Thomas). Hedrick, describing the fruit in France, gives the skin as pale greenish yellow, finely dotted, and slightly clouded with rose on the side of the sun.
Dots: Finely dotted (Hedrick).
Flesh and flavor: Flesh yellowish and semi-fine (Hedrick), breaking. Sweet and sugary, with a slight, pleasant musk flavor; Coxe calls the juice "somewhat musky." Hedrick adds that it is not very juicy and that it is acidulous.
Coxe calls it "a pleasant pear" if not too ripe. It is rated "Good" (Downing), "Tolerably good" (Thomas), and "second" (Hedrick).
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
A very early summer pear, ripening from June into the middle of July. Most authors give July, from the first to the tenth of the month (Coxe) or its beginning to the middle of the month. Hedrick gives June. Downing calls it the earliest of all pears.
Uses
A garden pear. Downing says it is allowed a place in gardens chiefly because of its earliness.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 5 period pomological works
- Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900) — listed as Little Muscat
- Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)
- Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817) — listed as Petit Muscat, Little Musk, Or Primitive Pear
- Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865) — listed as Little Muscat
- Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903) — listed as Little Muscat
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1845) from Massachusetts
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845 — listed as Petit Muscat
View original book sources (5)
— William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817)
- PETIT MUSCAT, LITTLE MUSK, OR PRIMITIVE PEAR.
This pear grows in clusters; the form is round rather than long; the stalk short, and when fully ripe the skin is yellow, with a portion of reddish brown on the cheek next the sun. If not too ripe, it is a pleasant pear; the juice somewhat musky—the form of the tree resembles the Catharine; it does not produce fruit early, but when it has attained the proper age, is an abundant bearer—it ripens from the first to the tenth of July.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Little Muscat. Little Musk, | Petit Muscat, Primitive, | Muscat Petit. Foreign. Small, turbinate, yellow, dull red cheek. July.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Little Muscat.
Little Musk. Primitive. Sept-en-gueule. Petit Muscat. Muscat Petit. Chiot.
This very little French Pear, well known in many of our gardens, is allowed a place there, chiefly because it is the earliest of all Pears, ripening at the beginning of July.
Fruit very small, turbinate, yellow, with a dull red cheek. Flesh breaking, sweet, with a slight musk flavor. Good. Very productive.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Little Muscat. Quite small, turbinate, yellow with brownish cheek; breaking, sweet, slightly musky. Middle of July. French. Tolerably good.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Petit-Muscat.
- Knoop Fructologie 1:75, Tab. 1. 1771.
- Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:522, fig. 1869. Little Muscat. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 802. 1869.
Jean Mayer, director of the gardens of the Grand Duke of Wurtzburg, Bavaria, in his Pomona franconica published in 1801 showed that the Petit-Muscat was the antique pear Superba described by Pliny. Various other pomologists wrote of it prior to Mayer as for instance Jacq. Daléchamp, 1615; Jean Jonston, 1662; and Henri Manger, 1783. Charles Estienne was the first to write of it in France, 1530, and he named it Musquette. Fruit very small, turbinate, more or less obtuse and sometimes globular-turbinate; the eye is placed in a regular-formed cavity and is always naked in consequence of the segments of the calyx falling off, pale greenish-yellow, finely dotted and slightly clouded with rose on the side of the sun (in France); flesh yellowish, semi-fine, breaking, not very juicy, sugary, acidulous and with a pleasant musk flavor; second; June.