This variety came from a chance seedling found near Brussels in 1805 by M. Meuris, head gardener for Dr. Van Mons. Being unnamed and of fine quality, Van Mons dedicated it to his German friend, Diel, one of the most distinguished German pomologists. Van Mons sent cions of the variety to the London Horticultural Society in 1817. In 1823, Thomas Andrew Knight sent cions to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society whence it became disseminated generally throughout the United States. The American Pomological Society placed this variety upon its fruit catalog-list in 1854. Tree medium in size and vigor, spreading, open-topped, slow-growing, hardy, productive; trunk slender, smooth; branches slender, twisting, reddish-brown mingled with grayish scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets with short internodes, dark reddish-brown, smooth, glabrous, with few small, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds obtuse, free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 2-3/4 in. long, 1-3/4 in. wide, oval, thick, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1-1/2 in. long. Flower-buds large, long, conical, rather plump, free; flowers open early, nearly 1-3/8 in. across, showy, in dense clusters, 7 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1-1/8 in. long, pubescent, greenish. Fruit ripe in November; large, 3 in. long, 2-3/8 in. wide, uniform in size, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, often irregular and usually with sides unequal; stem 1-1/4 in. long, thick, curved; cavity obtuse, shallow, very narrow, russeted, furrowed and uneven, often lipped; calyx partly open, large; lobes separated at the base, broad, acute; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed and uneven; skin very thick and granular, somewhat roughened by russet markings and by dots; color lemon-yellow, with a faint pinkish-red blush and markings and flecks of russet; dots many, russet, very conspicuous; flesh yellowish-white, firm, becoming tender and melting, quite granular around the core, very juicy, sweet, aromatic and rich; quality very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plump, often abortive, acute. [Illustration: BEURRÉ GIFFARD] BEURRÉ GIFFARD =1.= _Gard. Chron._ 69. 1848. =2.= _Mag. Hort._ =18=:433, fig. 30. 1852. =3.= _Ann. Pom. Belge_ =5=:69, Pl. 1857. =4.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 231. 1858. =5.= _Pom. France_ =1=: No. 1, Pl. 1. 1863. =6.= Mas _Le Verger_ =2=:39, fig. 18. 1866-73. =7.= Leroy _Dict. Pom._ =1=:369, fig. 1867. =8.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 689. 1869. =9.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 521. 1884. =10.= _Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom._ 374, fig. 1904. _Giffard's Butterbirne._ =11.= Oberdieck _Obst-Sort._ 255. 1881. =12.= Lauche _Deut. Pom._ =II=: No. 57, Pl. 57. 1883. _Giffard._ =13.= _Gard. Chron._ 415. 1863. =14.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 38. 1883.