Pear - European

Description:

The European Pear Pyrus communis is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe and southwest Asia. The European Pear is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most orchard pear cultivars grown in Europe, North America and Australia are developed.

Origin:

The cultivated European pear is thought to be descended from two subspecies of wild pear.

Archeological evidence shows that pears were collected from the wild long before their introduction into cultivation. Although they point to finds of pears in sites in Neolithic and Bronze Age European sites, reliable information on pear cultivation first appears in the works of Greek and Roman writers.

Cultivation:

European pear trees are not quite as hardy as apples, but nearly so. They do however require some winter chilling to produce fruit.

For best and most consistent quality, European Pears are picked when the fruit matures, but before they are ripe. Fruit allowed to ripen on the tree often drops before it can be picked and in any event will be hard to pick without bruising. They store (and ship) well in their mature but unripe state if kept cold and can be ripened later, a process called bletting. Some varieties, such as ‘Beurre d’Anjou’, ripen only with exposure to cold.

There are relatively few cultivars of European pear grown worldwide. Only about 20-25 European and 10-20 Asian cultivars represent virtually all the pears of commerce. Almost all European cultivars were chance seedlings or selections originating in western Europe, mostly France.

Pruning:

Winter is the best time to prune pear trees. Pear trees will fruit well whether or not they are pruned, but if the trees grow too tall the fruit is high and hard to reach, and when there is unproductive wood they don’t tend to crop reliably. The aim of pruning fruit trees is to assist the tree to produce reliable quality crops, with good size fruit on a manageable size tree.

Remove and clear the clutter within the tree so you end up with a nice, open framework and not too many competing branches, because it won’t fruit properly. Remove any crossing and low branches.

Remember the shoot on the end of each tip is called a terminal and this won’t ever fruit, so reduce that to just five or six buds. There’s also a branch that comes off the side of the shoot at an angle of between 30 and 60 degrees and that’s called a lateral. Leave the laterals intact because they will develop fruiting spurs for next season. And the little stubby bits of

growth, which are fruiting spurs, will develop apples this season. Try to prune a quarter of an inch past a bud and at an angle. And remove any old fruit left hanging on the tree.

Pears fruit on the little flowering spurs, just like apples, but they also fruit on the tip of one year old laterals, and so when pruning reduce the terminal and leave these to produce fruit for next year.

After pruning you should dispose of the prunings and remove any old, rotten fruit because these could harbour disease.

Fire Blight:

Fire blight was first recorded in 1794 in New York. It has since spread to other regions including Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Bermuda, United Kingdom, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Guatemala, most of the European Union, Eastern Europe, and some Middle Eastern apple and pear growing regions.

In 1997 there was a report of Fire blight in the Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens. This detection of the pathogen was successfully eradicated and Australia is considered free of the disease.

The name Fire blight aptly describes the characteristic scorched appearance of leaves and stem ends.

Early infected fruits remain very small and appear shriveled and dark but are firmly attached to the cluster base. Those infected as a consequence of progressive infection of branches are less shriveled and discoloured. Those infected following injury by hail or insects often develop red, brown, or black lesions. Infected fruits may also exude ooze that appears clear or milky turning red to brown with time, and shiny and glassy when dry.

Badly infected trees look as if they have been hit by a blowtorch. The first signs of Fire blight are blackened blossoms or fruit clusters and contorted branch tips, which are bent over like a ‘shepherd’s crook’. Infected blossoms and new shoots die and discolour suddenly, turning grey-green, brown or black.

Selected European Pear Cultivars:

• ‘Abate Fetel’ (syn. Abbé Fetel; a major cultivar in Italy)
• ‘Ayers’ (United States - an interspecific P. communis × P. pyrifolia hybrid from the University of Tennessee)
• ‘Blake’s Pride’ (United States)
• ‘Blanquilla’ (or ‘pera de agua’ and ‘blanquilla de Aranjuez’, Spain)
• ‘Butirra Precoce Morettini’
• ‘Carmen’
• ‘Clara Frijs’ (major cultivar in Denmark)
• ‘Concorde’ (England - a seedling of ‘Conference’ × ‘Doyenné du Comice)
• ‘Conference’ (England, 1894)
• ‘Corella’ (Australia)
• ‘Coscia’ (very early maturing cultivar from Italy)
• ‘Don Guindo’ (Spain - strong yellow, flavoured taste)
• ‘Doyenné du Comice’ (France)
• ‘Dr. Jules Guyot’
• ‘Forelle’
• ‘Glou Morceau’ (Belgium, 1750)
• ‘Gorham’ (United States)
• ‘Harrow Delight’ (Canada)
• ‘Harrow Sweet’ (Canada)
• ‘Joséphine de Malines’ (Belgium - obtained by Esperen, pomologist and major of Malines in the 19th century; one of the best late season pears)
• ‘Kieffer’ (United States - a hybrid of the Chinese “sand pear”, P. pyrifolia and probably ‘Bartlett’)
• ‘Laxton’s Superb’ (England; no longer used due to high susceptibility to fireblight)
• ‘Louise Bonne’ (France)
• ‘Luscious’ (United States)
• ‘Merton Pride’ (England, 1941)
• ‘Orient’ (United States - an interspecific P. communis × P. pyrifolia hybrid)
• ‘Packham’s Triumph’ (Australia), 1896)
• ‘Pineapple’ (United States - an interspecific P. communis × P. pyrifolia hybrid)
• ‘Red Bartlett’ (United States - There are three major red-skinned mutant clones: ‘Max Red Bartlett’, ‘Sensation Red Bartlett’, ‘Rosired Bartlett’)
• ‘Rocha’ (Portugal)
• ‘Rosemarie’ (South Africa)
• ‘Seckel’ (United States; early 19th century Philadelphia area; still produced, naturally resistant to fireblight)
• ‘Starkrimson’, also called Red Clapp’s, is a red-skinned 1939 Michigan bud mutation of Clapp’s Favourite. Its thick, smooth skin is a uniform, bright and intense red, and its creamy flesh is sweet and aromatic.
• ‘Summer Beauty’
• ‘Sudduth’
• ‘Taylor’s Gold’ (New Zealand - a russeted mutant clone of ‘Comice’)