The Red Bartlett, known also as 'Max Red', was first discovered as a bud sport on a regular Bartlett tree near Zillah, Washington in 1938. A "bud sport" is a naturally occurring mutation that develops occasionally on fruit trees, causing one or more branches to produce fruit with different characteristics than the rest of the tree. Often these changes and the fruit they produce go unnoticed. Even when discovered, the resulting fruit is not always an improvement on the original. In the case of the Red Bartlett, however, the new pears had all the wonderful flavor and aroma of the regular Bartlett, plus a beautiful red skin color.

Red Bartletts can vary in color from a light red vertical striping over a green background to a dark, solid maroon. As they ripen, Red Bartletts will brighten to a clear, strong red, as the green background pigments change to yellow, just as they do in the green Bartlett variety. In the western United States, Red Bartletts are harvested August through September.

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