Concorde Pear

Concorde is genuinely distinct from "Concord" the grape, despite the similar-sounding name — worth keeping straight, since the two are entirely unrelated fruits from different countries and breeding traditions. It is a real, documented cross of Conference and Comice pears, developed at the East Malling Research Station in Kent, England. Artificial pollination was carried out in 1968, with a number of candidate seedlings evaluated over the following years before Concorde itself was selected as the best of them in 1977 — nearly a decade after the original cross was made. It was not released commercially until 1994, and received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993, shortly before that commercial release. The fruit is genuinely described as a real blend of its two parents' best traits: it has the elongated shape and crisp texture inherited from Conference, combined with the rich sweetness of Comice. The tree itself is upright and moderately vigorous, flowering about five days after either parent variety, and like Comice it is a late-harvest pear. It is partially self-fertile, and genuinely known as a reliable, sometimes even over-productive cropper, with the real practical advantage of bearing its first crop about a year earlier than most other pear varieties.