Pitmaston was raised by John Williams at Pitmaston, near Worcester, England, in 1841. It has been generally stated that it originated from a cross between Duchesse d'Angoulême and Glou Morceau, although an old gardener, who was employed by Mr. Williams, stated that there was no record whatever of its parentage, but that it was the best of a number of seedlings. For some time it was known as the _Pitmaston Duchesse d'Angoulême_ on account of the theory of its derivation in part from the Duchesse d'Angoulême; but in 1870 its name was simplified in England to _Pitmaston Duchess_. In 1874 it obtained a first-class certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society, England. In this country it was first fruited by John Saul, Washington, District of Columbia, in 1870, and was noted and illustrated by Elliott in the _Rural New Yorker_ under the name _Pitmaston Duchesse d'Angoulême_. Although favorably mentioned several times by the American Pomological Society, the variety has never received a place in the Society's fruit-catalog. Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped, moderately productive; trunk stocky, shaggy; branches thick, slightly zigzag, reddish-brown, overlaid with very dark grayish scarf-skin, marked with numerous large lenticels; branchlets long, dull, dark reddish-brown, roughish, glabrous, with numerous small, raised, conspicuous lenticels. Leaf-buds short, obtuse, appressed; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 2-1/2 in. long, 1-1/2 in. wide, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1-3/4 in. long. Flower-buds short, conical, pointed, free; flowers showy, 1-3/4 in. across, well distributed, average 7 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 in. long, pubescent. Fruit ripe in October; large, 3-3/4 in. long, 3 in. wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform, symmetrical; stem 1 in. long, thick, often curved; cavity very shallow and very narrow, or lacking, the flesh drawn up in a wrinkled fold around the base of the stem, often lipped; calyx closed, large; lobes long, broad, acute; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed and wrinkled; skin thin, granular, smooth, tender, dull; color pale lemon-yellow, dotted and somewhat patched with light russet especially around the stem, without blush; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh tinged with yellow, somewhat granular, melting, buttery, very juicy, piquant and vinous; quality good to very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds narrow, long, flat, acute, very often abortive. [Illustration: POUND] POUND =1.= Coxe _Cult. Fr. Trees_ 209, fig. 63. 1817. =2.= Prince _Pom. Man._ =1=:149. 1831. =3.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 151. 1832. =4.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 445. 1845. =5.= _Ibid._ 835. 1869. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 22. 1871. =7.= Wickson _Cal. Fruits_ 326, 338, 344. 1889. _Pickering._ =8.= Langley _Pomona_ 133, Pl. 71, fig. 1. 1729.