Can someone describe some of the different Pearmains (Blue, Grey, Worcester, etc.)? Where do the color names come from? I just ate a Grey Pearmain. Thanks.

Hello CJ. I know it's already 3 months you wrote your question, but better late than never!!! Pearmain is an old word used for apples that had something in common with pears, in the shape or in the taste. Sometimes it was used for an apple that was better than a pear, as in Passe-poire in French. Sometimes also the name is used for apples that have an elongated shape. The oldest Pearmain is probably the Winter Pearmain, which dates back to about 1200 - there are reports of it growing in the Norfolk County (England) by that date, and also in Normandy (France) in 1211, under the name Permaine. I have 24 apples in my database that have the word Pearmain in the name or as a synonym. There is about the same number in Beach's Apples of New York. Most of these apples are English, and many are cooking apples. They are not very well known in this continent... Some of the names are: Adam's Pearmain, Baxter P, Claygate P, Herefordshire P, Hormead P, Lamb P, Mabbot P, Merton P, Worcester P. - I have never seen any of those... Of the colored Pearmains, there is the White P, or White Winter P, from Indiana c1800. The Golden P, or Golden Winter P, which are synonyms for the King of Pippins - see Wiki. The Pink P has pink flesh. And the Blue P, which is probably the better known of the P family, from New England, c1800, fully described in Beach's Apples of NY - see this thread, page 80 of volume 1. However, I never saw any reference to a Grey Pearmain anywhere. I would be curious to know where you got this apple from... Claude