POMACES. VIII. Mespilus. IX. Osteomelis. X. Pyrus. 



605 



i M. Germa nica (Lin. spec. 684.) leaves lanceolate, undi- melon^ an apple ; in reference to the bony endocarp). Lindl. in 

 vided, a little downy, but most so beneath; flowers solitary. ^ . H. Lin. trans. 13. p. 98. t. 8. D. C. prod. 2. p. G33. 

 Native of Europe and Siberia, in woods and among bushes ; in Lin. syst. Icosdndria^ Pentagynia. Calyx 5-cleft. Petals ob- 



England, in all the hedges about Minshill, Cheshire ; about long, flat, spreading. Stamens erect. Styles 5, exserted, length 



of stamens, bearded below, permanent. Ovary 5-celled; cells 

 1 -seeded. Pome closed, woolly; endocarp bony. — A shrub 



Ashburnham, Sussex, truly wild. Smith, engl. bot. 1523. Gaertn. 

 fr, 2. p. 43. t. 87. Duham. arbr. 2. t, 4. Pall. fl. ross. 1. 13. f. 1. 

 Var. 



sylvesiris (Mill. diet. no. 1.) thorny; fruit small. 

 Wild Medlar, Neflier du hois. 

 and worthless. 



Fruit obovate, middle-sized, dry, teas under the calyxes. 



with pinnate leaves, entire leaflets, and opposite subulate brae- 



Far. /3, strtcta (D. C. prod. 2. p. 633.) unarmed ; leaves 



doubly serrated. 

 Var. 



y, diffusa (D. 

 almost entire. Ait. 1. c. 



Ait. hort. kew. 2. p. 172. 



C, 



1 O. ANTHYLLiDiFOLiA (Lindl. 1. c). Tj . G. Native of the 

 Sandwich Islands. Pyrus anthyllidif olla, Smith, in Rees' cycl. 

 no. 29. Flowers subcorymbose. Fruit small, crowned by the 



prod. 2. p. 633.) unarmed 

 Duham. arb. fr. 1. t. 3. 



) 



leaves styles and calyx. 



abortive. The follow^ing garden medlars belong to this 

 1 BlaJce^s large medlar* 



Seeds usually 



.^ty: 



Kidney-vetch-leaved Osteomelis, Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 



Cult. A mixture of loam and peat will suit this shrub, and 



ripened cuttings will probably root if planted in a pot of sand, 

 2 Dutch medlar^ common^ large Dutch^ broad-leaved Dutchy with a hand-glass placed over them. But the best and surest 

 large-fruitedy large German^ nejlier a gros fruit, nejlier de Hoi- method of increasing it, when it shall be introduced to the gar- 

 hnde a gros fruit. Fruit large, oblate. The largest of any, dens, would be to graft it on the Cydbnia Japonica. 



btit not so good as the following. 



3 Nottingham medlar^ common^ small-fruited^ narrow-leaved 

 Dutch. Fruit obovate, middle-sized. This is the best of all 

 ihe medlars. 



4 Stoneless medlar, nejlier sans noyeau, nejlier sans ^j£?p/«<y, 

 French medlar. 



X, PY'RUS (peren, Celtic for the pear). Lindl. in Lin. 



trans. 13. 



Sorb 



us 



P- 



Tourn. 



97. 



D. C. prod. 2. p. 633. 

 Pyrus and Sorbus, Lin. 



Use. 



Fruit small, obovate, of little merit. 

 The medlar is eaten raw in a state of incipient decay ; 

 Its taste and flavour are pecvdiar, and by some much esteemed. 



Propagation. — By seeds, by layers, or by grafting on seed- 

 lings of their own species, or on any kind of plant of Pomacece. 

 Miller observes that if the stones are taken out of the fruit as 

 soon as it is ripe, and immediately planted, they will come up 

 the following spring and make good plants in two years. He 

 prefers raising from seed to grafting on the Cratce'gus. Forsyth 

 ^^ysj " those who wish to keep the sorts true, should propagate 



them by gj-afting on their own stocks." 

 SoiL 



Pyrus, Mains and 

 Pyruphorum and 

 Apyrophorum, Neck. 



Lin. syst, Icosdndria, Pentagynia. Calyx with an urcco- 

 late tube, and a 5-lobed limb. Petals roundish. Styles usually 

 5, rarely 2 or 3. Pome closed, 5-celled; putamen cartilaginous. 

 Seeds 2 in each cell ; testa cartilaginous* — Trees or shrubs, with 



The soil in which the medlar thrives best is a loamy Leaves simple, glandless. 



simple or pinnate leaves, and terminal, many-flowered cymes. 

 Bracteas subulate, deciduous. 



Sect, L Pyro'phorum (from pyrus, a pear, and ^optio, 

 phoreo, to bear ; the trees contained in this section bear pears). 

 D. C. prod. 2. p. 633. Petals flat, spreading. Styles 5, free. 

 Pome more or less turbinate or nearly globose, never umbilicate 

 at the base, as in the apple section. Pedicels simple, umbellate. 



^■ich earth, rather moist than dry, but not on a wet bottom. 



1 P. coMMu Nis (Lin. spec. 6SG.) leaves ovate, serrated, gla- 



Pi^al planting. — The wze(^/«r, like the gwznce, is usually grown brous on both surfaces, as well as the buds and branches ; pe- 

 as standards or espaliers ; the former maybe planted from 20 duncles umbellate. I? . H. Native of Europe, in woods and 



^0 30, and the latter from 15 to 20 feet apart. 



Mode of bearing. 

 "le branches. 



hedges ; plentiful in some parts of Britain. Smith, engl. bot. 



P 





On small spurs at the ends and sides of 1784. P. A'clias, Gaertn. fruct. 2. p. 44. t. 87. P. sylvestris, 



Dod. pempt. 800. Pyraster, Ray, syn. 4j2. The tree is thorny 

 in a wild state, but unarmed in the cultivated state. 



^ -Forsyth recommends the same sort of treatment 

 ^ for the quince. Cut out all the dead and cankery wood, and 

 *eep the tree thin of branches, when it is desired to have large 

 ^^^}- Care is requisite to train standards with tall stems. Es- well as the calyx, but at length becoming smooth ; pome drawn 



pauers will require a summer and winter pruning, as in the apple 



tree. 



Fl. May, July. Britain. Tree 



FIG. 83. 



J^ernian or Common Medlar. 

 '° to 20 feet. 



* M. Smi'thii (D. C. prod. 2. 



LmV ^'^""^ ''^^°"°' ^"'P^'^' 

 . . ^^^Qi pubescent on the nerves 



neath ; flowers usually solitary. 

 ,y ^- Native country unknown. 

 •*■ grandiflora, Smith, exot. bot. 

 •P-33. t. 18. Flowers white, 

 2^ ^^" smaller than those of the 

 ^'"i.ttion medlar. Stipulas of the 

 ceous^ ^""^"ches large and folia- 



^«i/A', Medlar. Fl. May, Ju. 

 '^^ Tree 20 feet. 



9u;l ^°^ culture and propa- 

 ^»"oa see common ,HC(//ar. 



^- OSTEOMELIS (from oareor, osteon, a bone, and ///?Xok 



Far. a, jtchras (Wallr. sched. 213.) thorny; leaves ovate, 

 acuminated, quite entire, on long petioles, when young woolly as 

 well as the calyx, but at length becoming smooth 

 out at the base. T2 • H. Wild pear or iron j^ear. 

 ' Far. ft, pyraster (Wallr. sched. p. 214.) thorny ; leaves round- 

 ish, acute, sharply serrated, when young glabrous as well as the 

 calyxes; pome rounded at the base» ^. H. Gaertn. fruct. 2. 



t. 87. f. 2. ... 



- The pear tree is called poirier in French, birnbaum in Ger- 

 man, and pcro in Italian. In its wild state, the pear is a thorny 

 tree, with upright branches, tending to a pyramidal form, In 

 which it differs materially from the apple tree. The twigs or 

 spray hang down ; the flowers in terminal villous corymbs, pro- 

 duced from wood of the preceding year, or from buds gradually 

 formed on that of several years' growth, on the extremities of 

 very short protruding shoots, technically spurs. It is found m 

 a wild state in Britain, and abundantly in France and Germany, 

 as well as other parts of Europe, not excepting Russia, as far 

 as latitude 51**. It grows in almost any soil. The cultivated 

 tree differs from the apple, not only in having a tendency to tlio 

 pyramidal form, but also in being more apt to send out tap 

 roots, in being as a seeding plant much longer in coming into 

 bearing, and when on its own root, or grafted on a wild pear 

 stock, of being much longer lived. In a dry soil it will exist 



