RIEHL BEST
1. Stark Bros. Cat. 18. 1912. 2. Ibid. 55. 1916.
Riehl Best is described among the major varieties because it is as nearly blight-proof as any other European pear. It might well be tried in localities where standard sorts cannot be raised because of blight, and is worth growing in breeding work as a parent to obtain blight-resistant varieties. The pears are rather unattractive in appearance, but are excellent in quality. The flesh is juicy, tender, vinous, free from grittiness and seldom rots at the core. The trees, besides being nearly free from blight, are hardy to heat and cold, and bear annually. The fruits fall far short of those of standard varieties in New York.
This pear was discovered by Edwin H. Riehl, Godfrey, Illinois, and was introduced by Stark Brothers, Louisiana, Missouri. Mr. Riehl says: “The farm on which the original tree stood was owned by a pioneer nurseryman who evidently imported from France a number of varieties, some perhaps without name. Riehl Best trees and several hundreds of other varieties represent the remains of three old orchards planted fifty years ago. Trees of other varieties are ruined by blight while Riehl Best is in perfect health and bears every season.” From this history it is probable that Riehl Best is an old European pear renamed.
Tree large, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, rapid-growing, productive; trunk stocky; branches thick, light reddish-brown, overspread with thin scarf-skin, marked with large, conspicuous, numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, often willowy, long, greenish-brown, dull, smooth, pubescent only near the ends of the new growth, sprinkled with small, slightly raised, inconspicuous lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, short, pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 3 in. long, 1¾ in. wide, thick; apex abruptly pointed; margin glandless, variable in serrations; petiole 2 in. long. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free, singly on short spurs; flowers 1⅝ in. across, in dense clusters, average 6 buds in a cluster; pedicels ⅞ in. long, lightly pubescent.
Fruit ripens in October; medium in size, 2½ in. long, 2 in. wide, obovate-conic-pyriform, irregular, with unequal sides; stem 1⅛ in. long; cavity very shallow and narrow when present, or lacking, the flesh drawn up in a lip on one side of the stem; calyx open; lobes separated at the base, broad, obtuse; basin obtuse, furrowed; skin thick, roughened with russet; color dull yellow, largely overlaid with patches of russet, marked with distinct russet dots and with a faint trace of a pinkish-red blush on the cheek next the sun; dots numerous, russet, conspicuous; flesh tinged with yellow, granular under the skin, tender, moderately juicy, vinous; quality good. Core large, closed, axile, with meeting core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; carpels ovate; seeds medium in size, width, and plumpness, obtuse.
