Worcester Pearmain
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Worcester Pearmain
Origin and History
This variety was produced at the St. John's Nurseries, Worcester, in 1873 by Mr. Richard Smith. It received a first-class certificate from the London Horticultural Society in 1874. It has been supposed to be a seedling from the Devonshire Quarrenden, though this is not known with certainty.
Fruit
Size and Form: Medium sized, two inches and three-quarters wide and two inches and three-quarters in height. Conical, even, and very slightly angular towards the crown, where it is narrow.
Skin: Very smooth and completely covered with a brilliant red, dotted with minute fawn-colored dots. In some specimens, the yellow ground shows faintly through the red.
Calyx (Eye): Small, closed with long segments forming a cone. Set on the apex of the fruit with a few plaits around it.
Stem (Stalk): Three-quarters of an inch long, deeply inserted in a russety cavity.
Flesh and Flavor: Very tender, crisp, juicy, sweet and sprightly, with a very pleasant flavor.
Tree
Hardy and begins to bear at a very early age. Very productive. When well trained on paradise stock and laden with its bright red fruit, which has a peculiar rosy tint, it forms a very beautiful object.
Season
Ripe in August and September.
Uses
Useful both for dessert and culinary purposes. The great beauty of the fruit and its usefulness render it suitable as a general favorite.
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 6 catalogs (1897–1917) from England
- Kelway & Son , Langport, Somerset , England — 1897
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
- Thomas Rivers & Son , Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire , England — 1913
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1914
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1917
View original book sources (1)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)
- WORCESTER PEARMAIN.
This very handsome early apple was produced in the St. John's Nurseries, Worcester, in 1873, by Mr. Richard Smith; and received a first-class certificate from the London Horticultural Society in 1874. It has been supposed to be a seedling from the Devonshire Quarrenden, but this is not known with certainty.
Description.—Fruit; medium sized, two inches and three-quarters wide, and the same in height; conical even, and very slightly angular towards the crown, where it is narrow. Skin; very smooth and completely covered with a brilliant red, dotted with minute fawn-coloured dots; here and there in some of the specimens, the yellow ground shows faintly through the red. Eye; small, closed with long segments, forming a cone, set on the apex of the fruit, with a few plaits round it. Stalk; three quarters of an inch long, deeply inserted in a russety cavity. Flesh; very tender, crisp, juicy, sweet and sprightly, with a very pleasant flavour.
The great beauty of the fruit, and its usefulness, both for dessert and culinary purposes, cannot fail to render it a general favourite. It is ripe in August and September.
The tree is hardy, begins to bear at a very early age, and is very productive. When well trained, on the paradise stock, and laden with its bright red fruit, which has a peculiar rosy tint, it forms a very beautiful object.