Genus PVRUS, Lindl. 



Rosacea;. Iscondria Di-Pcniaf;ynia. 



Syil. Nat. SijU. Lin. 



Synonymes. 



Pi/rus, Pijraster, Malus, Sor/ms, ) q Authors 

 Aria, Arunia, Cratccgiis, Mespilus, j 



Dtrirations. The word Pyrin \a derived from the Ccllic peren, llie pear; and Malua is the ancient Roman name of th 

 apple-tree. The other namea have been applied to various trees of this genus, from the analogy they were supiwsed to bear to 

 the Aria, Aroiiia, etc. 



Generic Characters. Carpels 5, or 2 5. Seeds 2 in each carpel. Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple or 

 pinnate, deciduous. Flowers in spreading terminal cymes or'corymbs. Loudon, Arboretum. 



\\\Vj genus Pyriis is composed of low trees and slirubs, mostly decid- 

 uous, and natives of Europe, Asia, and of North America. Some 

 of them are held in high estimation for their fruit; while others 

 are cultivated chiefly for their flowers. Under this head, modern 

 botanists have united the old genera Pyrus, Malus, and Sorbus, 

 together with several species formerly included under Mespilus, 

 Crataegus, Aronia, and others. Taking the generic characters from the fruit, we 

 agree with Mr. Loudon, that this union appears strictly in accordance with the 

 canons laid down by botanists ; but we cannot help stating, Avith him, that, in 

 our opinion, it would be much more convenient, in a practical point of view, in 

 establishing genera, to take into consideration the leaves, the character of the 

 vegetation, the physiology, and even the habit, of the plant, than merely to draw 

 the distinctive characters from the parts of fructification. In consequence of 

 attendmg only to these parts of plants, the genus Pyrus, as at present constituted, 

 contains species, such as the apple and pear, which will not readily graft on each 

 other; a circumstance which clearly shows that the union of these two kinds of 

 plants, in one genus, is not a natural one. We think that no plants should be 

 comprehended in the same genus, which will not graft reciprocally on each 

 other, nor those of different habits or constitutions ; and, consequently, that twin- 

 ing plants should not be classified with trees and upright shrubs ; nor deciduous 

 trees and shrubs with evergreens. When a more perfect knowledge is obtained 

 of all the vegetable productions of the earth, we have no doubt that it will be 

 found necessary to remodel all of the genera, as well as to give, in many cases, 

 new and characteristic names to the species, a labour which, formidable as it 

 may appear at first view, will be diminished to a degree scarcely credible, when 

 the present chaos of names, and apparently of species, is reduced by simplifica- 

 tion.* 



Under the genus Pyrus are at present included the apple and the pear, which 

 were formerly considered as distinct. Those authors most tanacious concerning 

 the establishment of the two vegetables as diflferent genera, have drawn their 

 characters from the adherence of the lower part of the five styles to their villosity, 

 to the spheroidal form of their fruit, and to the stem of the apple being set in a 

 cavity, characters which are by no means constant, and are frequently effaced. 

 M. Turpin, in a memoir to the French Academy of Sciences, on the differencfi 



* See Lodon's Arboretum Britannicum, ii., p. 879. 



