Please Help!! What is this pear!!

[TheFrustratedGardener]

Hi Everyone,

I need the help of all you Pear experts out there!! My parents have had a pear tree in their garden for years, unfortunately they are only cooking/stewing pears. After much looking online i cant find out what they could be! Ive seen similar but my tree seems soooo much bigger!

Any help greatly appreciated!

[chris]

Cooking pear? Must admit havent heard of strains just for cooking.

Where abouts are you based? It could be that they're not ripening in time due to your local climate?

Welcome to the forum!

[chris]

The Photo of the single pear looks a bit like a Concorde... but I'm not really sure to be honest.

[FB.]

How do you know that they're cookers?
Where are you located?
Do you know when the tree was planted?
Is it possible that the tree was grown from seed (are there signs of a graft near to ground level?).

Judging by the size of it, it is either:
Very vigorous variety on Quince roots (possibly a triploid)
Growing in exceptionally fertile soil.
Growing on a seedling or other very vigorous rootstock
A self-sown seedling.

In some locations, pears won't ripen properly. Climate is especially important for good pears.

If you pick any fruit too early, they won't taste good. I've seen the greedy college students stealing apples from some nearby(ish) trees, only to take a bite, find that the apples taste bitter <because they won't be ripe until September> and throw them on the floor. Of course, if they waited a few more months the apples would ripen. Unfortunately, by that time, most of the apples will have already been stolen, tasted, disliked and thrown away - what a waste.

Some old fruit varieties are intended to be stored through the winter, so aren't very tasty when picked but sweeten and soften if stored for several weeks in a box in the shed.

In addition to the possibility that it is a self-sown seedling and therefore not a recognised variety, it may be an ancient local variety which is not nationally known. Pear varieties in particular have not been well-recorded in the history books, unlike apples.
I suggest taking a sample of a short piece of branch, with leaves and fruts attached, to a local autumn fruit festival.

.

[TheFrustratedGardener]

Thank you for replying and welcoming me! In answer to your questions:
* How do i know they are cookers - Dont know as such but when eaten they dry your mouth out, an old neighbour who had lived in the houses since they were built told my parents they were cookers
* Where am i - Ipswich Town, Suffolk so good weather
* Do i know when the tree was planted - Unfortunately not, the house was built 1935 though
*No signs of any grafts at all, none near ground level or further up the tree.

It is possible the soil may be very fertile as the land the house is built on used to belong to the seed company Thompson & Morgan. All the neighbours on one side of the close have some sort of fruit in their garden, from cherries, plums, berries and apples (the smaller tree next to the pear in the image is actually a cooking apple)

In terms of ripening, they arent picked untill October when the fruits begin to fall and we have tried storing them in boxes over winter but they still dry the mouth when eaten.

I guess it looks like we might have to put this one down to an ancient variety of pear then i guess. I might try making Perry this year so i'll let you know the results of that little test!

[Glutton4...]

Welcome to the Madhouse! I'm a little south of you, in north Essex, but don't hold it against me!

I was always told that Pears will not ripen on the tree, and have to be picked and stored correctly to obtain ripe fruit. Have you had a 'google' to see what you can find out? Personally, I do not like Pears, but I do like Perry!

[Snadger]

We have one in field close by that has the same characteristics as yours. Is the flesh slightly 'pinky' and does it discolour quite quickly when cut? I think ours might be a quince or a quince derivative?

[TheFrustratedGardener]

Yep, we tried the advised method of picking and storage but they stayed the same. The flesh is completely white in colour so no pinky tinge
But it does discolour quickly once cut. I have looked at sum quince but everytime it's the size of the tree that doesn't match up, mostly twice the height of others.

[PAULW]

I am pretty sure when HFW did the program about cider making he said the cider apples tasted dry and turned brown very quickly because of the tanin in them, so there is a possibility that you have a perry pear.

[FB.]

Yes, as PaulW says:
Fruits which are "drying" in the mouth or feel rough on the palate are often used as one ingredient for a cider (or perry) blend (but tannic fruit it can also be a sign of not being properly ripe).
The dryness/roughness is due substances in the fruit called "tannins" which are also known as "bitter" types in a blend which might call for bittersweet or bittersharp fruit.

It is also quite possible that it is a one-off seedling and therefore not like any other variety in existence - although it doesn't sound like a particularly useful seedling.
Have you tried cooking with them?

Your tree doesn't look much like a quince, but what I meant about quince rootstocks was that if a very vigorous variety is grafted onto a quince root and is planted in excellent soil, it might, after many years, get up to the size of your tree.
I do not think that it is a quince; it is a pear.

[northepaul]

When I was little, the house we lived in had two pear trees in the garden. They were huge, (the house was Victorian and as far as anyone knew, the trees were planted at the same time,) much taller than the house. We used to get literally tonnes of pears which were picked when they started to fall, (august/sept as far as I remember) but they were not really ripe and looked very like yours. We used to sell them to the local greengrocer for 3p a big boxful , and I am sure he called them cooking pears too - the rest were left to the wasps. I always thought they were concordes but looking at yours I am not so sure now.

[FB.]

Northepaul

Concorde pear has only been available since the 1970's, although Conference comes from the late Victorian period. Both are usually good to eat within a week or two of picking.
I'd also be surprised to see Concorde make such a large tree because it is slow-growing, compact and precocious (being precocious rapidly channels all energy into fruit).
My Concorde on Quince A reached about 4-5ft a few years ago and hasn't grown since).
My Concorde on Pear seedling roots also refuses to grow (but will fruit). However, the rootstock has sent up a massive root sucker due to what I presume is the rootstock's frustration at the Concorde not wanting to grow.

A major problem with identifying fruits is that different climates, different soil types, different seasons and different rootstocks can make the same variety look (and taste) completely different. This is made more complicated by many people planting pips, which often show some of their parents' characteristics but are not a recognised variety.

Identifying old trees can be extremely difficult. Some people sound confident at it, but I find that the more I know about fruit, the more I realise how much I don't know.

[TheFrustratedGardener]

Thanks everyone for your advice, i think it's safe to say i may never find the exact variety we have! In answer to your question FB we have tried cooking them and they taste great once cooked, we've put them in fruit crumbles before and have cooked them in a variety of alcahol's. Unfortunately after a week of pear desserts it gets very boring!

[northepaul]

Sorry FB I meant conference...doh!!
That would fit with the age of the house, but they didnt ripen up and the trees were huge, probably grown on its own rootstock??? Perhaps they were a parent of the conference pear...will never know now as the house was pulled down in the 80's to make a block of flats, the garden is the carpark!!!

[northepaul]

Thanks everyone for your advice, i think it's safe to say i may never find the exact variety we have! In answer to your question FB we have tried cooking them and they taste great once cooked, we've put them in fruit crumbles before and have cooked them in a variety of alcahol's. Unfortunately after a week of pear desserts it gets very boring!

Try this recipe, I know its meant for 'normal' pears but anyhow:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...s.foodanddrink

also why not make perry...its LOVERLY!!