Olivier de Serres was raised from seed of Fortunée about the middle
of the nineteenth century by M. Boisbunel, Rouen, France. It fruited
a few years later, but did not receive attention until about 1862.
At that time it was brought to the notice of the French Society of
Horticulture, and was pronounced a fruit of merit. At the suggestion
of M. Boisbunel, it was named after the illustrious Frenchman, Olivier
de Serres, who in France is called "The Father of Agriculture." It was
brought to America about 1865.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, dense-topped, upright-spreading,
productive; trunk and branches marked with numerous lenticels;
branchlets slender, short, curved, with short internodes, light
reddish-brown, tinged with green, sprinkled with scattering,
inconspicuous, very small, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short,
sharply pointed, free; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves
2-3/4 in. long, 1-1/4 in. wide; apex taper-pointed; margin glandular,
finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long, slender. Flower-buds small,
short, sharply pointed, free, singly on short spurs; flowers with an
unpleasant odor, showy, 1-9/16 in. across; pedicels 1 in. long, thinly
pubescent.
Fruit ripens January to March; medium in size, 2-1/2 in. long, 2-3/4
in. wide, roundish-obtuse-pyriform, truncate at both ends, irregular
in outline; stem variable in length, averaging 3/4 in. long, thick,
enlarged at the top, curved; cavity broad, slightly furrowed; calyx
large, slightly open; basin variable in depth, furrowed; skin tender;
color greenish-yellow, partly overspread with cinnamon-russet and
sometimes with a dull blush on the exposed cheek; flesh whitish,
variable in texture, juicy, varying from sweet to a brisk, vinous
flavor; quality poor unless grown under the most favorable conditions.
[Illustration: ONONDAGA]
ONONDAGA
=1.= _Horticulturist_ =1=:322, fig. 77. 1846-47. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Rpt._ 231. 1858. =3.= Mas _Le Verger_ =3=: Pt. 1, 179, fig. 88.
1866-73. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 823. fig. 1869. =5.= Leroy
_Dict. Pom._ =2=:480, fig. 1869. =6.= _Guide Prat._ 74, 292. 1876.
=7.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 625. 1884.
_Swan's Orange._ =8.= _Mag. Hort._ =13=:243, fig. 19. 1847. =9.= Hovey
_Fr. Am._ =1=:21, Pl. 1851.
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