Warren (PI 541448).-Originated at Hattiesburg, Mississippi, by T.O. Warren as chance seedling. Introduced in 1976. Fruit: medium to large; shape variable; skin dull brown, sometimes with red blush, smooth; flesh whitish, buttery, smooth, moderately firm; flavor said to be comparable to Magness or Comice; ripens about with Magness; stores much better than Bartlett. Tree: vigorous; pyramidal, with flat crotch angles; cold hardy; tolerant of high summer temperatures; resistant, but not immune, to fire blight; disease free foliage. - Brooks and Olmo Register of Fruit and Nut Varieties Due to much interest in the Warren pear I thought it best to give POMONA readers the history and other pertinent information about this fruit. I found this pear about nine years ago growing in the back yard of a friend. It hasn't been determined if it is a named variety or a seedling though I tried hard to identify it. No other dessert pear will take our heat 60 miles from the Gulf, and not have blight with the good taste it has. Magness, Ayres, and Comice pears have the dessert taste I am speaking of. Magness grows here, Ayers does also, but Comice is limited to cool nights of West Coast regions. This pear is on extensive tests by many NAFEX members all over the U.S.A. Also most major federal and state horticultural stations have it on tests today.
The Warren pear is a somewhat drab brown color where sun does not reach it much, but can have a pretty red blush on the side exposed to the sun. It has a unique shape, a long neck, dew drop shape on maybe half the crop of medium to small size. Oddly enough larger specimens have two other shapes. One somewhat like Bartlett with a shoulder, and the other bell shaped like Magness. The long tapering neck of the smaller pears reminds one of the many times larger Devoe pear. This genetic trait makes it more difficult to identify the tree-three distinct shapes and sizes. Most pears don't do this. Some may have bigger or smaller fruit but of the same general shape. Taste: very sweet and juicy; several drops of juice fall after each bite. The seed core is very small and you eat over 98% of the pear. It has a pleasant aroma, too. Blight: very resistant to blight. It sometimes appears only near the top of a few limbs, though tests show many varieties alongside of the same age that do blight. Bearing: I don't have all the data to evaluate it properly but know it bears heavily some years, not like the Magness that is noted for shy bearing. Have patience. In some locations it fruits out the second year, but in my region it takes six, seven, or eight years to first hold fruit. This pear is very compatible on Pyrus calleryana rootstock and should do well on any good standard root base. I would not use quince as a base for it, as quince is in another genus. Growth is fast and rank on Pyrus calleryana in a pretty, pyramidal, Christmas tree shape with thick limbs and healthy medium size, dark green leaves. I rate it superb in flavor, even better than Comice, known as one of the best. This is unofficial, but tests I have run have proven that the Warren pear may well be self-fertile. I am almost sure this pear has Pyrus communis blood in its genetic background, from which most of our high dessert types come from. I am not too concerned whether we ever classify it. I'm just well pleased to have such a pear. It is the fastest, most healthy grower on Pyrus calleryana I have grafted in over 50 years. -- T.O. Warren, 1986, Pomona.