This old French baking pear with over sixty synonyms is supposed to have been found near Cadillac in the Gironde. Bonnefond in 1665 in the Jardinier Francois first described it under this name. The great size of the Cadillac has often caused it to be confused with the Pound pear, and the later's name has been applied as a synonym for the Cadillac, but the two are distinct. Tree stout, vigorous, spreading, productive; leaf large, round, downy serrate. Fruit very large, broadly turbinate, dull green to yellow, with brownish-red blush; stem stout, and inch long, in a small cavity; calyx open, in moderately deep, ribbed basin; flesh hard, rough; one of the best stewing pears, cooking a deep red; November to March. -- U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York, 1921.First described by Merlet in L'Abrege des Bon Fruits (1735), where he recommended growing several trees 'as much for its beauty as for the huge size of its fruits.' Bunyard considered it 'one of the very best of all stewing pears, cooking a deep red.' Ripens very late. -- Robert Nitschke, Southmeadow Fruit Gardens Catalog, 1976.
Catillac. This is one of the old French baking pears; it is very large, flat and round at the crown, diminishing rapidly to the stalk, which is an inch in length, obliquely inserted; the skin of a light green, nearly yellow when ripe; the flesh hard and suitable for baking from November till April; very productive. -- R. Manning, The New England Fruit Book, 1844.