1482 



P YRUS * salvifdlia 



Sage -leaved Pear. 



ICOSANDRIA DI-PENTAGYNIA. 



Nat. ord. Pomaces Juss. 

 Botany, p. 83.) 



P YRUS. —Supra, vol6.fol. 



tf 



P. salvifolia ; foliis lanceolatis integerrimis subttis gemmisque tomentosis 

 junioribus supern& velutinis adultis glabris. De Cand. prodr. 2. 634. 

 Arbor parva, ramis brevibus, contortis, corrugatis, abbreviatis, gemmis 

 nascentibus albolanatis. Folia junior a petiolata, oblonga, tomentosa, adulta 

 oblonga v. oblong o-lanceolata, utrinque acuta, leviter crenulata, suprd glabra, 

 subtils cinereo-tomentosa. Corymbi tomentosi, multifiori. Flores Pyro 



communi minores, albi. 

 austerus ; putrescens, sapidus. 



■s 



This, the Poirier a feuille de Sauge of the French, is 

 found wild about Orleans, where it is also cultivated for 

 making perry. It is a small, inelegant tree, with short 

 crooked branches, and, gray leaves, gay with blossom in 

 the spring, and laden with greenish, hard, austere fruit, 

 ripe in the month of October, but in the intermediate 

 season by no means an attractive object. 



Like P. amygdaliformis, elaeagnifolia, and sinaica, it is 

 probably not distinct from Pyrus nivalis, which seems to 

 have contributed largely to the parentage of many of our 

 cultivated Pears. 



The fruit, notwithstanding its austereness when first 

 gathered, nevertheless acquires a sweetish and rather 

 pleasant taste when it is softened by decay, and has 

 arrived at that state of decomposition in which we eat 

 the Medlar. 



Quite hardy. Propagated by grafting or budding either 

 upon the common Pear or the Quince. J. L. 



* See fol . 1 1 96. 



