Stancevic and Gavrilovic discovered an unusual hybrid in a fence-row of a pear orchard near Cacak predominantly containing trees of 'Beurre Giffard' in August 1954. At that time, the trees were about 15 years old. Existence of the hybrid tree was reported first in 1978. Buds were grafted on EM Quince A and the scion was named 'Pitoma Slanopadja' or "cultivated amygdaliformis". Tree characteristics. Trees of 'Pitoma Slanopadja', propagated on 'East Malling A' quince arc more vigorous and larger after 25 years than 30-year-old trees of P. amygdal-iformis. The trunk is straight and strong and the tree has a well-developed crown. The main scaffold branches have crotch angles of 50' to 60'C. The shoots are vigorous, brown-grey in color, and with relatively short internodes. The leaves are typical lanceolate- obovate, slightly bent, 9- to 12-cm-long and 3- to 5-cm-wide On young leaves, the upper surface is silver-green and slightly pubescent, the most characteristic symptom of P. amygdaliformis.
'Pitoma Slanopadja' blooms at about the same time as 'B. Giffard', but sometimes 45 days later. The hybrid is much more resistant to spring frosts, however, having never been damaged. Flower buds are large and pubescent; containing an average of 8 flower initials each. Flowers are large, white, and are reddish at the petal base. Pollen is produced abundantly and germination ranges from 14.2% to 64.4% (mean 36.2%). The tree produces a good yield of fruit consistently.
Fruit characteristics. The fruit of 'Pitoma Slanopadja' is the most interesting feature of this hybrid, resembling more in size and color the fruit of 'B. Giffard' than those of P. amygdaliformis. They are ovate-pyriform, 5.0 to 6.0 cm long and 4.5 to 5.0cm wide, with a thick but smooth skin (Fig. 2). Their average weight is 130 g, as compared to 148 g for 'B. Giffard' and 6.5 g for that of P. amygdaliformis. Fruit have a pronounced open calyx and an almost woody (about 2.8-mm-thick) stem, which varies in length from 3.5 to 4.0 cm. Developing fruit color is dark green, and changes to a yellow green towards maturity. Fruit are harvested in late October, and ripen during storage. In contrast, fruit of 'B. Giffard' are harvested by the end of July. The flesh of 'Pitoma Slanopadja' fruit is a light cream color, medium-textured, with pronounced large grit cells around a medium- to large-sized core (equals 50% of fruit diameter). The flavor is subacid with a fair degree of sweetness. -- Stancevic et al. 1984. HortScience 19:254-255.