General Information
This large, exquisite pear has a meltingly smooth, sweet flesh and fruit-filled fragrance. It ranges in color from greenish-yellow to yellow blushed with red. Comice is the sweetest and juiciest of all varieties of pears and are a favorite in holiday gift boxes and baskets. Their flesh is very soft, and can best be described as creamy in texture, abundantly full of juice, and very sweet. For many pear lovers, Comice is the pinnacle of pears.
History
Known properly as Doyenn Du Comice, this French variety of pear was first propagated near Angers in the mid-1800’s. The first red sports were discovered in the 1900’s near Medford, Oregon. A “sport” is a naturally occurring transformation that develops occasionally on fruit trees. Often they are unnoticed, and even when discovered, the resulting fruit is not always commercially viable. The first red sport of Comice, discovered in 1960, presented a somewhat striped pattern. A full-red sport was discovered about 10 year’s later, also in the Medford area.
