Philadelphia
PearPhiladelphia
Origin / History
Origin near Philadelphia.
Tree
Healthy, vigorous. Young shoots light yellowish brown. Productive. Fruit sometimes cracks.
Fruit
Size: Large.
Form: Roundish obtuse pyriform to roundish-obovate, broad; Thomas says it remotely approaches the Diel form.
Stem: Medium length, stout at its insertion.
Cavity: Abrupt.
Calyx: Open.
Basin: Broad, uneven; the calyx is set in it.
Skin: Yellow, sometimes netted with russet or partly russeted.
Dots: Thickly sprinkled, green or gray.
Flesh and flavor: Coarse, juicy, buttery, melting; flavor sugary, slightly perfumed. Downing rates it "Good"; Thomas calls the flavor "very good".
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
September.
Uses
Not described in source.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1901) from Illinois
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
View original book sources (2)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Philadelphia.
Latch. Orange Bergamot, erroneously.
Origin, near Philadelphia. Tree healthy, vigorous. Young shoots light yellowish brown, productive. Fruit sometimes cracks.
Fruit large, roundish obtuse pyriform, yellow, thickly sprinkled with green or gray dots, sometimes netted with russet. Stalk of medium length, stout at its insertion, in an abrupt cavity. Calyx open, set in a broad, uneven basin. Flesh coarse, juicy, buttery, melting, with a sugary flavor, slightly perfumed. Good. September.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Philadelphia. Large, roundish-obovate, broad, remotely approaching Diel form; skin yellow, thickly dotted, sometimes partly russeted; stalk stout, cavity abrupt; basin broad, uneven; flesh coarse, buttery, melting, with a very good flavor, slightly perfumed. September.