Luizet Apricot Tree – AB

Description

Luizet apricot tree

The Luizet apricot tree (Prunus armeniaca ‘Luizet’) is a French heirloom variety from Écully, in the Rhône, raised around 1838 by the nurseryman Gabriel Luizet, and known for being self-fertile, for its hardiness in a continental climate and for the eating quality of its firm-fleshed fruit. Long the backbone of the orchards of the Rhône valley and then of the Swiss Valais, Luizet is today a heritage variety that we graft organically in our Lot-et-Garonne nursery.

Luizet at a glance

About the Luizet apricot tree

The history of Luizet is dated with a precision rare for an heirloom variety. Gabriel Luizet, a nurseryman at Écully-lès-Lyon and one of the founders of the Société d’horticulture pratique du Rhône, raised the mother tree in 1838, most likely from a seedling of a central European variety of the ‘Meilleur de Hongrie’ group. It was released commercially in 1853 under the name abricot du Clos; the French pomological congress substituted the name abricot Luizet when it was admitted in 1860.

Luizet makes a vigorous tree with strong wood, 4 to 6 m on a seedling rootstock, with a rounded habit and long, kinked shoots. André Leroy, in his Dictionnaire de pomologie, notes that it does perfectly well as a standard but thrives in any form. Since Luizet’s wood is brittle, it is better not to let long unsupported scaffold branches run on.

One point deserves settling, because a good deal of loose talk circulates: Luizet’s attested synonyms are Suchet, du Clos and probably Dur d’Écully. “Hâtif du Clos”, on the other hand, means a different variety. Gabriel Luizet wrote as much to Leroy himself on 26 November 1874: Hâtif du Clos came from a stone sown in 1854 from his own apricot, and is distinguished by how extremely early it ripens.

Fruit characteristics

The Luizet apricot is elongated oval in shape, with swollen cheeks and a narrow but deep suture. The slightly downy skin is orange-yellow dotted with purple-red, washed with bright, light red on the side facing the sun. The colouring stays moderate: that is what penalised Luizet against modern bicoloured varieties, without taking anything away from how it eats.

• Flesh: deep yellow, firm to moderately firm, freestone
• Flavour: abundant juice, sweet, sharp, more or less fragrant according to ripeness
• Size: medium to large, according to crop load and thinning
• Stone: very large, elongated oval, with a high, sharp dorsal ridge

How well Luizet eats depends heavily on when it is picked. Picked green for transport, it disappoints — which explains the severity of some older pomologies. Picked fully ripe on the tree, when the sunny side takes on a bright red flush, it recovers the balanced profile that made its reputation. Leroy described the Luizet kernel as “almost sweet”; that is a pomological descriptor, and not a recommendation from us to eat it.

Pollinating Luizet

Luizet is self-fertile: a single tree is enough to crop. That self-fertility is not merely an empirical observation, it is established genetically — Luizet’s S-RNase genotype is S8Sc, and the Sc allele is the mutated haplotype that confers self-compatibility in the apricot. Luizet appears in the list of confirmed self-compatible cultivars alongside ‘Canino’, ‘Paviot’ and ‘Corbato’.

A corollary rarely pointed out: because it carries two alleles distinct from those of most self-incompatible varieties, Luizet makes a good pollen donor for cultivars that do need a pollinizer — which is the case for the Goldrich apricot tree and the Hargrand apricot tree, both self-incompatible. The condition remains overlapping flowering: as Luizet flowers towards the end of March, the pairing should be checked locally against earlier-flowering varieties.

Growing and care

Soil and position

Luizet needs a light, deep, free-draining soil, neutral to slightly chalky. Heavy clays, cold ground and any standing moisture must be avoided: they cause root asphyxia and encourage gummosis. Give it full sun, sheltered from cold winds and, if possible, out of frost hollows.

Planting

Plant Luizet bare-root from mid-November to the end of February, outside frost periods. Dig a hole three times wider than the root system, break up the base without putting fresh manure in contact with the roots, and make sure the graft union stays 10 cm above soil level. Stake it, water generously, then mulch around the base over a metre’s diameter.

Pruning

Train Luizet as an open vase with 3 or 4 scaffold branches. Since the apricot tolerates large wounds badly, favour summer pruning, after harvest, rather than winter pruning. Shorten over-vigorous shoots, open up the centre and renew the fruiting spurs regularly: Luizet fruits on one-year wood and on short shoots.

Diseases and resistance

Luizet is not a resistant variety — no apricot really is. Its blossom is susceptible to blossom wilt (Monilia laxa), particularly in wet springs at flowering time. The other points to watch are typical of the species: gummosis on airless soils, bacterial canker, and above all two notifiable diseases in production areas, sharka (plum pox virus) and apricot chlorotic leaf roll, spread by psyllids. In the Lot-et-Garonne, a department that produces the Ente plum, sharka monitoring is a collective matter: report any suspicious symptom to FREDON.

Culinary uses

Luizet built its reputation as much on preserving as on fresh eating. Its stone, which comes cleanly away from the flesh, makes it a convenient apricot to stone in quantity, hence its historical vocation for halves in syrup, jams, tarts and clafoutis. In the Valais, Luizet also fed the distilleries: Valais apricot eau-de-vie was built on this variety, as was the Saxon cannery.

🍑 For fresh eating, pick Luizet in two passes a few days apart, waiting for the bright red flush on the sunny side. Its short keeping — 3 to 5 days — makes it a fruit for direct sale and short supply chains, not a keeper: it is precisely that poor travelling quality which caused it to be progressively replaced in professional Valais orchards from the 1990s onwards.

Luizet, prince of the Valais orchard

Here is the chapter most accounts leave out. Gabriel Luizet, having emigrated to Saxon, established his variety in the Valais; another man from Lyon, Joseph Sablier, popularised it around 1875-1880, just as the embankment works on the Rhône were freeing up land ideal for fruit growing. Luizet then became the apricot variety of the Valais, a canton which today covers nearly 95 % of the Swiss apricot market.

One figure gives the measure of it: according to the 2004 report of the Valais fruit and vegetable trade association, Luizet still accounted for 46.4 % of the canton’s apricot plantings, well ahead of Orangered (17.9 %) and Goldrich (11.3 %). Its gradual replacement comes down to its commercial weaknesses — keeping, transport, size — and not to how it eats. Indeed it was on Luizet that Agroscope Conthey founded its breeding programme, from which the Lisa and Mia varieties came in 2018.

Luizet in a warm climate: what to know before planting

Nobody selling it says so, and yet it is decisive in the South-West: Luizet is a continental climate variety. Leroy noted it already — Luizet crops lightly in a mild or Mediterranean climate, and specialist nurseries rate its productivity as moderate, sometimes irregular. It gives its best where winter is sharp and summer hot: the Rhône valley, the Bugey, Savoie, the Valais, mid-altitude sites.

In the Lot-et-Garonne, Luizet remains plantable — our winters still bring enough cold, and its late-March flowering is rather an asset against frost — but it should be planted knowingly: choose a position that is not scorching, avoid dry soils that worsen fruit drop, and do not expect the steady yields of a modern variety selected for the south. For a mixed garden orchard, pair it with the Bergeron apricot tree, later and more regular, the Polonais apricot tree, which flowers at the same time as Luizet, or the Pêche de Nancy apricot tree, another heirloom dessert variety.

Frequently asked questions about the Luizet apricot tree

Is the Luizet apricot tree self-fertile?

Yes, the Luizet apricot tree is self-fertile: an isolated tree crops without a pollinizer. That self-fertility is genetically confirmed, Luizet carrying the S8Sc genotype, whose Sc allele is the self-compatibility allele in the apricot. Bees nonetheless remain decisive for fruit set, and a wet spring during flowering sharply reduces the crop.

When should Luizet apricots be picked?

Luizet apricots are picked in mid-July, ripening fairly evenly so that two passes suffice. In a warm climate such as the South-West, picking can begin as early as the start of July. The fruit is ripe when the side facing the sun takes on a bright red flush and the stalk gives way without effort.

What does the Luizet apricot taste like?

The Luizet apricot has deep yellow flesh, firm and juicy, sweet with a distinct sharpness and a fragrance that varies with ripeness. Picked too early, Luizet stays dull and sour. Picked fully ripe on the tree, it develops the sugar-acid balance characteristic of heirloom apricots, as welcome fresh as in jam.

What is the difference between Luizet and Bergeron?

Luizet, raised at Écully in 1838, ripens in mid-July and keeps poorly; Bergeron, from the Drôme, ripens later and handles better. Both are self-fertile and late-flowering. Luizet is more vigorous but cropping is less regular, which explains its retreat from professional orchards.

Is Luizet suitable for the south of France?

Luizet is a continental climate variety: André Leroy already noted that it crops lightly in a mild or Mediterranean climate. It can still be grown in the South-West, where its late-March flowering limits frost risk, but without expecting the yields of a modern variety. A free-draining soil, a position that is not scorching and consistent watering are essential.

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