Bon-Chrétien Frédéric Baudry. 1. Guide Prat. 88. 1895.
Fruit medium or large; flesh fine, sweet, perfumed; first; Feb. and Mar.
Bon-Chrétien d’Hiver. 1. Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:212, Pl. XLV. 1768. 2. Mas Le Verger 1:23 bis, fig. 18. 1866-73.
Bon-Chrétien d’Auch. 3. Hogg Fruit Man. 533. 1884.
A volume might be filled with a record of the endeavors to determine the origin of this pear. As to its great antiquity all are agreed. It is established that it was imported into France from Italy in 1495 by Charles VIII on his conquest of the kingdom of Naples, but whether it was the Crustuminum of the Romans or whether it received its name at the beginning of Christianity remains uncertain. One explanation of the name was that François de Paul, the founder of a monkish order, being called to the court of Louis XI for the recovery of his health, was styled by that monarch “le bon Chrétien,” and that he brought with him from Calabria some of this fruit which henceforth acquired the name it bears. That suggestion, however, is evidently erroneous as Saint François de Paul’s visit to the King at Tours took place in 1483 whereas this pear was introduced to France in 1495. It is thought not improbable that the name is derived from the Greek panchresta, meaning “all good,” of which the Latin Crustuminum of the Romans may also be a derivation. Fruit large and sometimes very large, variable in form, irregularly pyriform or obovate-turbinate, rather rough to the touch, dull greenish-yellow, some brown next the sun, and strewed with small, russet dots; flesh whitish, crisp, juicy, sweet, aromatic and vinous; a dessert pear of merit, first class for cooking; Dec. to Mar.
Bon-Chrétien d’Hiver Panaché. 1. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:467, fig. 1867.
Striped Bon Chrétien. 2. Kenrick Am. Orch. 184. 1833.
A variegated form of Bon Chrétien d’Hiver propagated by Louis Noisette at Brunoy, Seine-et-Oise, Fr., in 1802. It differs only from its type in the coloring of its skin which is bright green, finely dotted and stained with brownish-red and covered with large, yellow streaks extending from the stalk to the calyx, and in its flesh being more melting.
Bon-Chrétien Mathieu Joseph Lamarche. 1. Ann. Pom. Belge 3:99, fig. 1855.