Tree medium in size and vigor, spreading, dense-topped, rapid-growing, productive; trunk stocky; branches thick, reddish-brown, nearly covered with gray scarf-skin, marked with numerous large lenticels; branchlets slender, short, light greenish-brown, overspread with gray scarf-skin, smooth, glabrous, with numerous, small, conspicuous, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, very short, pointed, plump, appressed. Leaves 2¾ in. long, 1¾ in. wide, thick, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin occasionally with very few, small glands, coarsely or finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long, thick, glabrous, greenish. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers late, showy, 1¼ in. across, in dense clusters, 8 to 11 buds in a cluster; pedicels ⅞ in. long, pubescent.
Fruit matures November to December; large, 3⅛ in. long, 2¾ in. wide, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, irregular, sides unequal, somewhat ribbed; stem ⅞ in. long, thick and woody, curved; cavity deep, narrow, russeted, deeply furrowed, compressed, lipped; calyx open; lobes long, narrow, acute; basin deep, smooth, broadly furrowed; skin tender, very gritty, dull, roughened by russet; color pale greenish-yellow, covered with large and small patches and mottlings of light russet; dots numerous, small, conspicuous, light russet; flesh tinged with yellow, fine-grained except near the core and under the skin, tender, buttery, sweet, with a rich, pleasant, aromatic flavor, astringent near the skin; quality good to very good. Core closed, axile, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, broad, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plump, acute.
GUYOT
1. Ragan Nom. Pear, B. P. I. Bul. 126:139. 1908.
Dr. Jules Guyot. 2. Lauche Deut. Pom. II: No. 71, Pl. 71. 1883. 3. Hogg Fruit Man. 562. 1884. 4. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 54. 1892. 5. Garden 52:248. 1897. 6. Deut. Obstsorten 5: Pt. 5, Pl. 1906. 7. Garden 73:564, fig. 1909.
Docteur Jules Guyot. 8. Lucas Tafelbirnen 73, fig. 1894. 9. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 234. 1906.
The fruits of Guyot bear strong resemblance to those of Bartlett, but differ in being larger and rather more handsomely colored, ripen a little earlier, have coarser flesh, and are very differently flavored. The product can seldom compete with that of Bartlett, or even with that of Clapp Favorite with which it ripens, because its season is exceedingly transitory. Unless picked quite green and ripened indoors, the pears rot at the center, and even when ripened under the best conditions quickly become mealy and insipid. Taken at the proper moment, the pears are better flavored than those of Bartlett, as they are richer and have a more delicate taste and perfume than the musky fruits of Bartlett. The trees are quite as satisfactory as those of Bartlett, unless, possibly, they fall short somewhat in productiveness. The variety is well worth planting in collections for its early, handsome, well-flavored fruits.