76
TH E DUTCHES S GF ANGOULEME PEA R .
Duchesse d’Angouléme. Bon Jardinier, 1829, p. 328. Hort.
Trans, voi. vii. t. 3. Fruit Cat. no. 245.
This, the very finest of the late autumn Pears,
is said to have been found wild in a hedge near
Anvers.
I t ripens in the end of November, and is remarkable,
not only for its excellence, but also for
its irregular, knobby surface, covered with broad
patches of brown, by which it is readily known.
I t arrives at a weight quite unusual in Pears
th a t are fit for the dessert. Jersey specimens have
been seen weighing twenty-two ounces; and in
1827, a fruit was gathered from an east wall, in the
Garden of the Horticultural Society, th a t weighed
nineteen ounces.
The trees bear very early and certainly, if
grafted upon the Quince, for which the sort is better
adapted than for the P e a r stock. I t is doubtful
whether it will succeed as an open standard ; the
best situation is an east wall.
Wood yellowish, covered with white spots.
Leaves ovate, middle-sized.
Flowers open early; their petals oval, or
somewhat obovate.
F rutt roundish-oblong, tapering towards the
stalk, with an extremely uneven surface, usually
i«i'