Honey Tree Orchard & ApiaryCedar Bluff, Virginia

From the Living Museum

Pearmain

Origin
‘Pearmain’ is an old class name for conical, aromatic English apples rather than a single variety
Era
Varies (Pearmain class)
Type / use
Dessert
Grafted, planting April 2027
A USDA watercolor (1920) of a green, conical apple labelled simply “Pearmain”
Pearmain is an old class name, not one variety. This 1920 USDA painting is labelled simply “Pearmain”; it shows an apple grown under that name, not necessarily the same strain as our tree. Painting by J. Marion Shull, 1920. USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection (POM00003755), public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons. All image credits

History & Stories

Without a more specific modifier, this entry most likely represents a particular strain in my collection. Classic pearmain traits include elegant conical shape and refined aromatic flavor.

Folklore & Name

‘Pearmain’ is an old class name for conical, aromatic English apples rather than a single clone. Without a more specific epithet, this entry represents a particular strain in the collection. The class name itself is ancient.

Digging into the History

Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.

What we know

In 1884 Robert Hogg called the Pearmain "the oldest English apple on record" 1. Citing Blomefield's history of Norfolk, he wrote that its cultivation there "can be traced back to the year 1200." A Norfolk estate was held on condition of paying "two hundred Pearmains and four hogsheads of cider of Pearmains" into the Exchequer each Michaelmas 1. Hogg described a "true Old Pearmain" still grown around Dymock, on the Herefordshire–Gloucestershire border, from scions taken from old trees 1. A later variety, Winter Pearmain, is in the UK National Fruit Collection, which calls it "thought to be a very old English variety" 2. André Leroy described it in France as Pearmain d'hiver in 1867 3.

What we think: stories & traditions

What the name means (Hogg's theory). Hogg believed "Pearmain" meant "Great Pear Apple," from a Latin Pyrus Magnus, "just as Charlemagne is of Carolus Magnus." On that view a Pearmain ought to be pear-shaped 1. That is his explanation, and we have not tested it against other sources. Over the centuries the name spread to many apples, which is why "Pearmain" is now a family name rather than a single variety 1.

Sources

  1. Robert Hogg, The Fruit Manual, 5th ed. (London, 1884), "Pearmain." archive.org/details/fruitmanualguide00hoggrich/mode/2up?q=Pearmain
  2. UK National Fruit Collection, "Winter Pearmain." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=6854&fruit=apple
  3. André Leroy, Dictionnaire de pomologie, Vol. 4 (Pommes, G–Z) (Paris/Angers, 1867), "Pearmain d'hiver." archive.org/details/dictionnairedepo04lero/mode/2up?q=Pearmain

Curious about Pearmain?

Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.