European Pears

An old French variety from around 1895 with white, buttery flesh, early to mid-season. Hedrick U.P. (1921). Twenty-ninth Annual Report, Vol. 2, Part II, The Pears of New York, Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the year 1921...

Another wonderfully historic pear variety about which much more is written in our reference than there is space for here. Belle Lucrative is of Flemish origin. In 1831 it was growing in the London Horticultural Society’s gardens at Chiswick,...

A chance seedling found in 1805, by M. Meuris the head gardener for Dr. Van Mons at the Chateau of Perck near Vilvoorde. Van Mons named it in honour of his friend Dr. Augustus Frederick Adrien Diel, a distinguished German pomologist. Lemon-yellow, rough,...

Seems to have originated in the gardens of the Capucin Monastery at Louvain, Belgium, where there was recorded, about 1823, an old pear tree known to the monks as the Pastorale de Louvain. As the variety attracted attention it became widely...

A French pear raised in about 1820 by M. Bonnet, Boulonge-sur-Mer, France. Acquired by M. Jean-Laurent Jamin, a nurseryman near Paris, who named it in honour of M. Hardy Director and Professor of Arboriculture at the Garden of Luxembourg. It was...

Raised by Thaddeus Clapp of Dorchester, Massachusset, USA. Fruits have white, juicy flesh with a sweet flavour. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 Pollination: cross pollination with another European pear...

Common commercial variety in UK, has good disease resistance and is partially self-fertile. Raised by pomologist Thomas Francis Rivers at Rivers Nursery Sawbridgeworth. Exhibited at the National British Pear Conference after which it was named. Awarded a...

Also called Forelle. Forelle is the German word for trout and the colouration, and with imagination the shape, of a ripe Corella pear is reminiscent of a trout at spawning. Small to medium in size. Corella pears are great eaten fresh or in a salad...

One of the finest flavoured pears, from trial beds in the Comice Horticole, Angers, Department of Maine-et-Loire, France in mid-19th century. First fruited in 1849. Introduced to England in 1858 by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland. Skin smooth with russet...

  A highly regarded pear with tender, melting flesh in a red fruit. Originated in Belgium in the early 19th century. Late season, partially self-fertile. Pollination: cross-pollinate with another European Pear, partly self-fertile Size: Up to 5...

Early 19th century variety that was once a leading commercial variety in eastern regions of America. The parent tree is thought to have been a wilding found in a wooded area near Alost, East Flanders, Belgium about 1800. It has many synonyms, but the...

Highly recommended for the home garden. Originated around 1830 at Mechlin (Malines), Belgium and named in honour of the wife of the breeder, pomologist Major Espére. Good polleniser for other pears, pale green-shaded yellow, lightly russet skin...

An Australian variety by Charles Packham in 1896. Slow-ripening sweet, delicious, white and juicy flesh and turning a paler green when ripe. Can be eaten when firm or soft when fully ripe. Most widely grown pear in Australia. Pollination...

European pear 'Paradise' is a delightful small early ripening pear that has fruit in clusters. Paradise pears are also called 'Faccia Bella', crystal pears or sugar pears. They have green skin with a red blush, and sweet white flesh. They are great to...

It is believed that this variety arose near Nantes, western France in the middle of the 19th century. Medium to large yellow-green fruit with tawny gray patches, variegated orange-red sunburn. White flesh, fine, melting, juicy, sweet and fragrant. Highly...

A red-coloured sport of Williams. Similar characteristics to Williams. Harvest: early-mid February   Image (accessed 31/3/16)

Winter Nelis, also called Bonne de Malines, was raised from seed by Jean Charles Nélis at Mechlin (Malines), Belgium in the 1820s. Small to medium fruit with russeted, dull, yellow skin with a tinge of green, red blush on exposed cheek...