Pear Sverdlovchanka

Autumn-summer variety from the Sverdlovsk and Saratov Experimental Stations of Fruit Growing. Obtained by pollinating Polya 'Lukashovka' with pollen from southern varieties. Authors: L. A. Kotov, G. V. Kondratyeva. Approved for the Lower Volga region. Undergoing State Variety Testing in the Urals and the Volga-Vyatka region. Gained particular popularity in the Saratov region, where it proved itself as one of the best varieties. Has prospects for wider cultivation.

Medium-sized tree with a broad-pyramidal or round crown. Main branches with greenish-dark-gray bark are raised upward, densely covered with branched rings, on which fruiting is concentrated starting from two-year-old wood and on last year's growths.

Shoots with greenish-brown bark, straight, not grooved. Leaves dark green, shiny, elliptical or egg-shaped, flat or slightly folded, with finely toothed edges, long petioles, and small sickle-shaped stipules.

Flowers of medium size, white, cup-shaped. Stigmas are located at the height of the anthers. Flowering is late.

Fruits of medium size (average weight 140 g, maximum 180 g), ranging from elongated-pear to short-pear shapes, with smooth surface. Color is green when harvested, turning yellowish upon ripening, often with a slight blush on the sun-exposed side. Peduncle is long, receptacle small but fairly wide, calyx open. Heart-shaped core, seed chambers closed.

Flesh is white with a yellowish tint, very juicy, tender, thin, oily type, practically without granules, pleasantly acidic-sweet flavor, aromatic. Sugar content — 9.9%, titratable acids — 0.2%.

In the Sverdlovsk region, this is an autumn-ripening variety consumed in September–October. In the Saratov region, Sverdlovchanka becomes a summer dessert variety with more intense yellow coloring.

Fruits have good market appearance, firmly hold on the tree, and are quite transportable.

Self-sterile. Well-pollinated by other pear varieties.

Trees are precocious, begin fruiting on the fourth year after grafting, quickly increase yield. Fruit production is abundant and regular. High productivity — over 200 centners per hectare.

Overall winter hardiness is high, but at northern boundaries of its distribution area — medium, so here it should be grown on rootstocks of cold-resistant standards and framework-forming varieties (Ussuri pear and its hybrids). The variety is not affected by fungal diseases.

Advantages of the variety: dessert flavor of fruits, large fruit size, high yield, winter hardiness, disease resistance.

Disadvantages of the variety: medium winter hardiness at the northern edge of its distribution area.