A case of national concern III.: The ‘Pándy meggy’ sour cherry

Abstract

The sour cherry species has long been grown in the Carpathian Basin still a growing number of questions have not been solved yet in the history of cultivars. Genetic resources have been expanded since the early Neolithic (with indigenous, semi-wild varieties) and later with cultivars of foreign origin. During the 19th mid-century, 18 nurseries grew ‘Spanyol meggy’, 30 grew ‘Ostheimi meggy’ and 16 grew ‘Pándy meggy’, as well. The origin of the ’Pándy meggy’ raises many questions. Certainly it has been existent after 1848 – though many synonymous form (’Griotte de Pándy’, ’Kecskeméti meggy’, ’Kőrösi meggy’, ’Szentesi meggy’, ’Üvegmeggy’, ’Nagy meggy’, ’Oltott meggy’= false) (cf. Entz 1858). It is important to clarify the origins of ’Pándy meggy’ also because it is one of old breeds with outstanding value. The outstanding taste, nutritional values, fruit shape and size, and high frost resistance of the ’Pándy meggy’ are positive attributes. Self-sterility, poor fertility peduncle with stipules and its susceptibility to fruit brown rot are its negative traits, reparable however. Despite the emergence of new cultivars in domestic sour cherry growing, there is a need for further research and preservation of the ‘Pándy meggy’ as an excellent addition to the new successors. There are five hypotheses for the origin of cultivar:
At Pánd village (Pest County) in the estate of György Szilassy (see also Countess dr. Vilma Hugonnai’s letter) the mother tree grew from seed in the village. – Though a contemporary rebuttal also appeared in the horticultural papers, that challenged the publication of the first Hungarian woman doctor; today’s local historical memory in the village is also doubt the idea.
‘In Debrecen (Sámuel?) Pándy Retired hussar raised it from seed after 1849’. In fact, Colonel Samuel Pándy was a real person who was resident of the village Mád, and was a director of the horse stud in Mezőhegyes during the times of the 1848-1849 freedom struggle.
Pomological literature almost unanimously confess the origin from Debrecen, though, according to recently acquired information from the Deri Museum in Debrecen no documents were found in the Archives of Debrecen and Deri Museum that proof the existence of any hussar person called Pándy.
Perhaps the most likely hypothesis is, as the map also revealed, that the ‘Pándy meggy’ could have developed in all three of the big domestic sour cherry growing districts, probably from the Ostheimi meggy’, or from crosses over with local cherry cultivars in the Nyírség.
According to a new, our own hypothesis the mother of the mutant sour cherry tree originates from the ethnobotanical genetic resources of the Szabolcs and Nyírség region. – It well might be that all three places (Pánd, Debrecen, Eger) can be considered as sites of origin (cf. Viga 1990, Pethő et al. 2013).
In particular, the Hajdúság and Nyírség area generated several local cultivars that can be considered relatives. However, a greater genetic diversity of the ’Vörös meggy’ and ’Cigánymeggy’ is rather typical for the area between the Danube and Tisza rivers.