Summer Doyenné
Pear
Summer Doyenné
Origin/History
This pear was originated by Van Mons, as established by his own catalogue entry: in Van Mons' Catalogue at p. 28 appears "Doyenné d'Été; par nous," with the preface explaining that "par nous" signifies the fruit is a result of his own trials (Herefordshire Pomona). Hedrick places the date of origin at approximately 1800. Thomas gives Belgium as the country of origin.
Diel acknowledged having received it from Van Mons in his Kernobstsorten, Vol. xix, and described it under the name Brüsseler Sommer Dechantsbirne in his Systematisches Verzeichniss, 2 Fort. p. 90, with the synonym "Doyenné d'Été V. M." — the addition of Van Mons' initials serving to distinguish it from a separate and totally different fruit Diel had previously described in Kernobstsorten Vol. iii, p. 39, also called Doyenné d'Été, which is a medium-sized pear with no red on the sunny side and which ripens at the end of August (Herefordshire Pomona). Diel listed Summer Doyenné among his best pears in 1812.
Summer Doyenné was first brought to the attention of American pomologists by William Kenrick, who compiled a description as early as 1836, though it does not appear to have been introduced to the United States until 1843 (Hedrick). It was recommended for general culture in the United States by the American Pomological Society in 1852. An excellent colored representation was published in the Florist and Pomologist, July 1862, p. 104 (Herefordshire Pomona).
Tree
The tree is variable in size, described by Hedrick as never large but of medium size overall, and by the Herefordshire Pomona as very hardy. It is upright, vigorous, and very productive, bearing abundantly; it comes into bearing early (Hedrick), and Thomas confirms it bears very young. The trunk is slender; branches slender, slightly zigzag, brownish, overlaid with a gray scarf-skin, marked with numerous conspicuous lenticels. Branchlets are slender, long, light brown mingled with green, the new growth tinged with red; smooth and glabrous except near the ends of the new growth, with numerous raised lenticels (Hedrick). Thomas describes the shoots as slender and reddish-brown.
Leaf-buds small, short, sharply pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 2½ in. long, 1½ in. wide, thin, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long, tinged with pink. Flower-buds small, short, plump, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers showy, 1¼ in. across, in dense clusters of 7 to 9 buds; pedicels 1¼ in. long, slender, pubescent (Hedrick).
The tree is hardy and as free as most orchard associates from blight, though both fruit and foliage suffer badly from pear-scab, and no amount of spraying can give the fruits a fair cheek in seasons when this fungus is epidemic (Hedrick). The tree succeeds well on the Quince and forms a handsome pyramid; this is considered the best mode of growing it (Herefordshire Pomona).
Fruit
Size: Small. The Herefordshire Pomona records two inches wide and one and three-quarters inches high. Hedrick gives 1¾ in. long and 1¾ in. wide.
Form: Roundish or roundish turbinate (Herefordshire Pomona); obovate-obtuse-pyriform, symmetrical (Hedrick); round obovate or short Buffum-shaped (Thomas).
Stem: Sources give differing lengths: three-quarters of an inch, not depressed (Herefordshire Pomona); one inch to one and one-quarter inches long, rather stout, slightly oblique, not sunk (Thomas); 1½ in. long, slender (Hedrick).
Cavity: Shallow (Herefordshire Pomona; Thomas). Hedrick describes it as obtuse, shallow, narrow, slightly furrowed, and often lipped.
Calyx: Small (Herefordshire Pomona; Hedrick). The Herefordshire Pomona describes the eye as half open and set in a shallow plaited basin. Hedrick gives the calyx as closed, with lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, and acuminate — a conflict with the Herefordshire Pomona's "half open."
Basin: Shallow (Herefordshire Pomona; Thomas). Hedrick gives it as shallow, obtuse, and furrowed.
Skin: Smooth (Herefordshire Pomona; Hedrick). Thin and tender (Hedrick; Thomas). Where shaded, the skin is a clear greenish yellow in early stages, changing as it ripens to a fine lemon yellow (Herefordshire Pomona); at full ripeness Hedrick describes the ground as waxen yellow. On the sunny side, the skin is covered with a red blush (Herefordshire Pomona); Hedrick describes this as washed or blushed with bright red, deepening on the exposed cheek to crimson. Thomas records a fine yellow ground with a warm cheek brightly reddened at the crown and with radiating stripes of greenish-yellow extending from the calyx. Dots are grey (Herefordshire Pomona); Hedrick gives them as numerous, small, russet, and obscure.
Flesh/Flavor: Yellowish white (Herefordshire Pomona) or tinged with yellow (Hedrick). Fine-grained (Hedrick). The Herefordshire Pomona describes the texture as half melting; both Hedrick and Thomas describe it as fully melting. Very juicy (Herefordshire Pomona; Thomas). Sweet with a pleasant flavor (Herefordshire Pomona; Thomas). Hedrick notes the flavor is variable: pleasantly sprightly under favorable conditions, quality good under the best conditions, but variable overall and not reliable across seasons.
Core/Seeds: Core closed, axile, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, narrow, urn-shaped; carpels roundish-ovate; seeds small, narrow, flat, acute (Hedrick). Thomas gives the core as small and the seeds as small and white.
Season
The Herefordshire Pomona describes this as the earliest pear known and places ripening at the middle or end of July. Hedrick gives the ripening date as early August. Thomas states only that it ripens very early.
The fruit should be gathered before it is fully ripe, or it will soon become mealy and quite insipid (Herefordshire Pomona). It does not keep well (Hedrick).
Uses
The Herefordshire Pomona calls this the best of the early pears. Hedrick considers it very desirable for the home garden on account of its extremely early and highly flavored fruits, borne in prodigious quantities, but notes it has no value for market, being small, keeping poorly, and unattractive in appearance.
Subtypes/Variants
The Herefordshire Pomona notes that in Diel's Kernobstsorten, Vol. iii, p. 39, a totally different fruit was also described under the name Doyenné d'Été — a medium-sized pear with no red on the sunny side, ripening at the end of August. This is an entirely distinct variety, not Summer Doyenné.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
View original book sources (3)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)
- SUMMER DOYENNÉ.
[Syn : Doyenné d'Été ; Doyenné de Juillet ; Jolimont ; Roi Jolimont ; Jolivet ; Duchesse de Berri d'Été ; St. Michel d'Été ; Brüsseler Sommer Dechantsbirne ; Julius Dechantsbirne.]
The origin of this Pear has caused much discussion among pomologists, but there seems little doubt about it. In Van Mons' Catalogue at p. 28, we find "Doyenné d'Été ; par nous." In the preface this expression "par nous" is stated to signify "que ce fruit est un resultat de nos essais." This being the case, we cannot suppose that Van Mons would have claimed a fruit he did not raise.
Diel acknowledges having received it from Van Mons in his "Kernobstsorten," Vol. xix. ; and in his "Systematisches Verzeichniss," 2 Fort. p. 90, he describes it under the name Brüsseler Sommer Dechantsbirne with the synonyme "Doyenné d'Été V. M." This distinction of placing Van Mons' initials in conjunction with it, was, no doubt, to distinguish it from that other Doyenné d'Été, which he had described in the "Kernobstsorten" Vol. iii., p. 39, and which is a totally different fruit, of medium size, with no red on the sunny side, and which ripens in the end of August. This pear must have been raised by Van Mons at an early period, for Diel mentions it among his best pears in 1812.
An excellent coloured representation has been given of this pear in the "Florist and Pomologist," July, 1862, p. 104.
Description.—Fruit : small, two inches wide and one and three quarters high ; roundish, or roundish turbinate. Skin : smooth, and wherever shaded of a clear greenish yellow, changing as it ripens to a fine lemon yellow, and on the side next the sun covered with a red blush, and strewed with grey dots. Eye : small, half open, set in a shallow plaited basin. Stalk : three quarters of an inch long, not depressed. Flesh : yellowish white, half melting, and very juicy, sweet and pleasantly flavoured.
This is the earliest Pear known, and the best of the early Pears. It is ripe by the middle or end of July, but it should be gathered before it is ripe, or it will soon become mealy and quite insipid.
The tree is very hardy and bears abundantly. It succeeds well on the Quince, forms a handsome pyramid, and this is the best mode of growing it.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)SUMMER DOYENNÉ
- Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 40. 1883. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 651. 1884. 3. Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 180, fig. 1914.
Doyenné d'Été. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 336. 1845. 5. Gard. Chron. 508, fig. 1847. 6. Mag. Hort. 13:66, fig. 8. 1847. 7. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:59, Pl. 1851. 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 53. 1852. 9. Horticulturist N. S. 3:491, fig. 1853. 10. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 742, fig. 1869.
Sommerdechantsbirne. 11. Dochnahl Führ. Obstkunde 2:20. 1856.
Doyenné de Juillet. 12. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:77, fig. 1869. 13. Guide Prat. 57, 266. 1876.
Juli Dechantsbirne. 14. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 239. 1889. 15. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 51, Pl. 108. 1894.
The extremely early and highly flavored fruits, which are borne in prodigious quantities, make this a very desirable pear for the home garden. The fruits have no value for the markets, as they are small, do not keep well, and are unattractive. The tree, while never large, is of medium size, comes in bearing early, is hardy, and is as free as most of its orchard associates from blight. Both fruit and foliage suffer badly from pear-scab, and no amount of spraying can give the fruits a fair cheek in seasons when this fungus is epidemic.
Van Mons is supposed to have originated this variety about 1800 as Diel mentioned it among his best pears in 1812. Summer Doyenné was first brought to the notice of American pomologists by William Kenrick, who compiled a description of it as early as 1836. It does not, however, appear to have been introduced until 1843. It was recommended for general culture in the United States by the American Pomological Society in 1852.
Tree variable in size, upright, vigorous, very productive; trunk slender; branches slender, slightly zigzag, brownish, overlaid with gray scarf-skin, marked with numerous conspicuous lenticels; branchlets slender, long, light brown mingled with green, the new growth tinged with red, smooth, glabrous except near the ends of the new growth, with numerous raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, short, sharply pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 2½ in. long, 1½ in. wide, thin, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long, tinged with pink. Flower-buds small, short, plump, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers showy, 1¼ in. across, in dense clusters, 7 to 9 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1¼ in. long, slender, pubescent.
Fruit ripe in early August; small, 1¾ in. long, 1¾ in. wide, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, symmetrical; stem 1½ in. long, slender; cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, slightly furrowed, often lipped; calyx small, closed; lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, acuminate; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed; skin thin, smooth, tender, waxen yellow, washed or blushed with bright red, deepening on the exposed cheek to crimson; dots numerous, small, russet, obscure; flesh tinged with yellow, fine-grained, tender and melting, juicy, variable in flavor and quality, pleasantly sprightly under favorable conditions; quality variable, good under the best conditions. Core closed, axile, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, narrow, urn-shaped; carpels roundish-ovate; seeds small, narrow, flat, acute.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Summer Doyenné.* (Doyenné d'Été.) Small; round obovate, or short Buffum-shaped; stalk an inch or an inch and a fourth long, rather stout, slightly oblique, not sunk; basin very shallow; skin a fine yellow, with a warm cheek brightly reddened at the crown, and with radiating stripes of greenish-yellow from the calyx; flesh melting, juicy, sweet, with a pleasant, very good flavor. Skin thin; core small; seeds small, white. Ripens very early. Tree bears very young. Shoots slender, reddish-brown. Belgium.