Winter Rousselet

Origin/History

Winter Rousselet is an ancient French pear of unknown origin. It was described by Claude Saintfitienne in 1670 and by Duhamel in the eighteenth century, and is referenced in Mawe and Abercrombie's Universal Gardener and Botanist (1778) and in Leroy's Dictionnaire de Pomologie (2:593, with figure, 1869). William Coxe included it among his enumerated pears in 1817.

Tree

Not described in source, beyond bearing habit. Coxe notes it is an abundant bearer.

Fruit

Size

Small (both Coxe and Hedrick).

Form

Coxe describes a regular shape, gradually diminishing towards the stem. Hedrick gives a fuller characterization: turbinate, more or less obtuse, usually somewhat contracted toward the top, and often depressed on one side and mammillate on the other.

Stem

Not described in source.

Cavity

Not described in source.

Calyx

Not described in source.

Basin

Not described in source.

Skin

Coxe describes the skin as a lively russet like a Golden Pippin. Hedrick describes the ground color as yellow-green, dotted with gray russet and blushed with reddish-brown on the face exposed to the sun.

Flesh and Flavor

The two sources conflict on flesh color: Coxe gives it as yellow; Hedrick as white. Coxe describes the flesh as rich and sprightly, and rather too firm for a table fruit. Hedrick describes it as semi-breaking, watery, and rather granular, with juice abundant and saccharine; he adds that it rarely has much aroma and is sometimes acid. Hedrick rates it second quality.

Core and Seeds

Not described in source.

Season

February and March (Hedrick). Coxe notes it is a fine keeping pear.

Uses

Coxe considers it rather too firm for use as a table fruit but excellent for baking and stewing.

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Not described in source.