The seed parent of Kieffer was the Sand pear of China. Peter Kieffer,}
who lived at Roxborough, near Philadelphia, for many years grew the
Chinese Sand pear and sold the trees for ornamental purposes. In his
garden there were also trees of Bartlett. Among chance seedlings, Mr.
Kieffer observed one of peculiar growth which he saved. This tree bore
fruit first in 1863. Later, it was exhibited at the Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society, and finally at the Centennial Exposition where in 1876 it
was named Kieffer. The variety was added to the fruit-list of the American
Pomological Society in 1883.
Tree of medium size, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, hardy, very productive;
branches slender, nearly smooth, reddish-brown, covered with dull ash-gray scarf-skin,
marked with few small lenticels; branchlets medium to long, reddish-brown mingled with
green, smooth, slightly pubescent, with numerous, large, raised, very conspicuous lenticels.
