Doctor Jules Guyot

Pear ‘Doctor Jules Guyot’ is an old French cultivar of Pyrus communis, raised by the Baltet nursery at Troyes around 1870 and named after the French physician and horticulturalist Jules Guyot.

The fruit is medium to large and typically pear-shaped, with pale green skin turning lemon yellow when ripe and sometimes developing a light pink blush on the sunny side. The creamy-white flesh is fine, melting and particularly juicy. Its flavour is sweet and pleasant, although generally less strongly aromatic than ‘Williams’.

‘Doctor Jules Guyot’ is one of the earliest important European pears, usually picked from late July into early August, around ten to fifteen days before ‘Williams’. Fruit should be harvested while still firm because it ripens quickly afterwards. For such an early pear, storage ability is relatively good and fruit can keep for around one to two months under suitable refrigerated conditions.

The tree has moderate vigour, an upright habit and comes into production quickly. It is partially self-fertile and can also set some parthenocarpic fruit, but crops improve with compatible pears such as ‘Williams’, ‘Conference’ or ‘Doyenné du Comice’. Its pollen is good. The cultivar is fairly resistant to pear scab but is susceptible to fire blight.