Fruit ripens December to January; large, elongated-obovate-pyriform, often with a narrow neck; stem slender, rather short, enlarged at both ends, inserted obliquely; cavity irregular, often lipped; calyx variable in size, partly open; basin variable in size, abrupt, irregular; skin glossy, thin, with uneven surface; color yellow, mottled and faintly blushed on the exposed cheek with yellowish-bronze; dots inconspicuous, small; flesh white, fine-grained, melting, juicy, sweet, pleasantly aromatic; quality very good.
LÉON LECLERC (VAN MONS)
1. Mass. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 3. 1843. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 419, fig. 192. 1845. 3. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:9, Pl. 1851. 4. Ann. Pom. Belge 5:51, Pl. 1857. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 70. 1862. 6. Pom. France 1: No. 29, Pl. 29. 1863. 7. Jour. Hort. N. S. 10:366. 1866. 8. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 127, fig. 62. 1866-73. 9. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:722, fig. 1869. 10. Jour. Hort. 3rd Ser. 1:573, fig. 103. 1880. 11. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 361, fig. 1906.
Van Mons Butterbirne. 12. Lauche Deut. Pom. II: No. 65, Pl. 65. 1883. 13. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 292. 1889.
A century ago this pear was being heralded in Europe as the best of all pears, and shortly afterward was introduced into the United States with highest praise. The variety is still popular in Europe, but its reputation there is not sustained here. The pear deserves a place among major varieties only because it fills a particular niche in the pear season, the crop coming in season between late fall and early winter at a time when there are few other good varieties. Were it not for one serious fault, however, the variety might take high rank in America. The fault is great susceptibility to the scab fungus. After Flemish Beauty, no other variety suffers as much both in fruit and foliage. Well grown in a congenial environment, on standard or quince stock, the pears are often as large as those of Duchesse d’Angoulême, with which they compare rather closely in shape. On well-grown specimens, also, the color is rich and beautiful. The flavor is sprightly and refreshing, which, with good flesh-characters, give the variety high rank for quality. There are no remarkable characters in the trees to recommend them, although they are quite up to the average in all characters either on pear or quince stocks. They are said to prefer a rich, deep soil. The variety is suitable only for collections.
This pear was obtained by M. Léon Leclerc, a distinguished pomologist living at Laval, France, who dedicated it to his friend Van Mons. Desiring to couple his own name with that of his friend, he gave it the name of Van Mons Léon Leclerc, by which appellation it has been known by most authors. The variety first fruited in 1828. There has been a good deal of confusion as to the identity of this pear, owing to the fact that Van Mons raised a pear in 1816 which he dedicated to Léon Leclerc. The proper name of the latter pear is Léon Leclerc de Laval. There is also a Léon Leclerc de Louvain. The variety under discussion was fruited in this country previous to 1843 by Marshall P. Wilder. The American Pomological Society added the variety to its fruit-catalog in 1862 but dropped it in 1869.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, productive; trunk shaggy; branches roughish, reddish-brown, overspread with heavy, dull scarf-skin, with conspicuous, numerous, large lenticels; branchlets very slender and curved, short, with short internodes, light brown streaked with gray and tinged with green, dull, smooth, glabrous, with numerous small, conspicuous, raised lenticels.