Commonly called, according to Miller, the Little Bastard Musk Pear to distinguish it from the Little Musk Pear. Fruit small, roundish, yellow when ripe, with a few streaks of red on the side next the sun; juice musky; good; July.
Choak-pear. 1. Miller Gard. Dict. 3: 1807.
The fruit of this pear is so acrid that it produces a choking sensation. Its flesh is red and it is rarely cultivated.
Choisnard. 1. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:559, fig. 1867. 2. Guide Prat. 80. 1895.
Found growing wild in the environs of Ormes-Sur-Vienne, Fr., about 1810. Fruit above to medium, pyramidal-obtuse, rather wrinkled, dark yellow, dotted with fawn, large gray marblings which pass to dark brown on the exposed side; flesh yellowish, semi-melting, semi-fine, gritty at core; juice sufficient, sugary, tartish, savory, with a delicate, musky flavor; first; Jan. to Mar.
Cholwell. 1. Mag. Hort. 13:451. 1847.
An English variety first described by the London Horticultural Society in 1847. Fruit medium, curved pyramidal; skin smooth, thin, yellowish-green in the shade and partly tinged and obscurely streaked with dull red next the sun where it is also speckled with pale dots; flesh yellowish-white, melting, buttery, very sugary and rich, musky; Oct.
Christmas. 1. Elliott Fr. Book. 371. 1859.
Originated in Cincinnati, O., and described as “new” in 1859. Fruit medium, ovate-rounded, rough, bronzed, russety; flesh a little gritty, juicy, sweet; very good; Dec. and Jan.
Christmas Beurré. 1. Mass. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 158. 1874.