Apearmain, also formerly spelled "permain", is a type ofapple. The name may once have been applied to a particular variety of apple that kept well, although in more modern times its inclusion in varietal names was, like the term 'Pippin', "largely decoration"[1] rather than indicating any shared qualities.
The original 'Pearmain' variety has not been conclusively identified and may now be extinct.
There has been some debate over the origin of the name "pearmain". ThepomologistRobert Hogg suggested that it originated in mediaeval times frompyrus magnus, "greatpear", and referred to a type of apple having a large pear-like shape.[2] Hogg believed that the variety 'Winter Pearmain' was both "the original of all the Pearmains"[2] and the oldest recorded variety of apple in England, with evidence it was cultivated inNorfolk in c.1200.[2]
Other sources suggest that the name "pearmain" was in fact originally used for a type of pear, and was first applied to apples only during the 16th century.[3] It has been suggested the word was derived fromOld Frenchpearmain and possibly ultimately fromLatinparmensia "ofParma",[3] though the latter is probablyfolk etymology.
The third and most likely derivation, by thephilologistErnest Weekley, also suggests the term was originally applied to pears, but that it came fromMiddle Englishparmain,permain, derived from Old Frenchparmaindre "to endure", and referred to the long keeping qualities of some varieties.[4] Rejecting the etymology fromparmensia, Weekley noted that 17th-century references to a "pompire" or "pyramalum" (i.e. an "apple-pear") suggested that the original 'Pearmain' apple was named for some quality associated with the pearmain pear; i.e. hardness and long keeping ability.[5]
Shape: C = Conical, Ob = Oblong, Ov = Ovate, R = Round, COb = Conical oblong, ROv = Roundish ovate, ROb = Roundish oblate, ObOv = Oblongovate
Pearmain apple cultivars from England[6]
Of uncertain origin
Pearmain apple cultivars from America[7][8]
Pearmain cultivars from Germany
There have been many efforts to identify the original 'Pearmain' apple, of supposedly mediaeval origin. Hogg suggested the 'Winter Pearmain' to be the original, and synonymous with the 'Old Pearmain', though S. A. Beach, in his workApples of New York, noted that "several different varieties" had been propagated in America and England under the name 'Winter Pearmain' and that in many descriptions "it is impossible to determine which Winter Pearmain the writer had in mind".[10]
By contrast, Hogg believed the apple identified in some catalogues of the time as 'Old Pearmain' to in fact be a variety called 'Royal Pearmain'.[11] Hogg later claimed to have identified the "true Old Pearmain" growing in theDymock area.[12] The current 'Old Pearmain' in theNational Fruit Collection was received in 1924 from a Mr. Kelsey inSurrey, but is probably neither Hogg's variety nor the ancient 'Pearmain'.[13]
