Marie Louise
(ˈmɑːrɪ luːˈiːz)
The name of Marie Louise (1791–1847), second wife of Napoleon I, used to designate a variety of yellow-skinned pear. Also attrib.
| 1817 Trans. Hort. Soc. II. 406 A box of Pears, sent to the Society by Dr. Van Mons, of Brussells, was examined... They are stated, by Dr. Van Mons, to be seedlings raised by himself: 1, Napoleon..; 2, Marie Louise: in shape and size resembling a small Bon Chrétien; yellow, with bright red next the sun; very rich, and ripe about the middle of October. 1820 Ibid. IV. 519 Specimens of the Marie Louise Pear were received. 1860 R. Hogg Fruit Manual 200 Marie Louise... One of our very best pears. Ripe in October and November. 1894 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Choice of Evils I. ii. 34 Not even the Mervyn gardens could produce finer pears than the solitary ‘Marie Louise’ tree. 1929 E. A. Bunyard Anat. Dessert 104 Marie Louise, cannot be overlooked,..being named after that most acquiescent of Empresses, Napoleon's second wife, and, like her, it needs the support of a strong arm to stay its languishing growth. 1958 [see Doyenne1]. |