696 PYRUS. [CLASS XII. ORDER U. 



It is also known by the name of Rowan, roddon, quicken, or witcben 

 tree, all figurative names ; for this tree is supposed to have been sacred 

 amongst the Druids, and now it is frequently planted near houses and 

 villages in the Highlands of Scotland, for the purpose, as they super- 

 stitiously suppose, of keeping off evil spirits. It is a tall, erect, smooth 

 shining barked tree, of considerable beauty, and a great favourite in 

 plantations or groves ; for 



•* No eye can overlook, when mid a grove 

 Of yet un faded trees she lifts her head, 

 Decked with Autumnal berries, that outshine 

 Spring's richest blossoms." 



Wordsworth. 



The wood is hard, and fine grained, and is chiefly used by turners 

 and mathematical instrument makers. The long, slender tough 

 branches are much esteemed for making whip handles. The bark is 

 astringent, and used by tanners. The berries afford a dye, and when 

 bruised and fermented, they yield by distillation a strong spirit; and 

 boiled with sugar, they form a pleasant kind ol jam. 



7. P. domes'tica^ Sm. (Fig. 793.) True Service-tree. Leaves 

 pinnate ; leaflets in pairs, acutely serrated, downy beneath ; flowers 

 panicled ; fruit small, obovate. 



English Botany, t. 350.— English Flora, vol. ii. p. 364.— Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 196.— Lindley, Synopsis, p. 105. — 

 P. sorhus, Gcertn. — Sorbus domestica, Linn. 



A large sized tree, with smooth bark, and not bearing fruit until of 

 a great age. Leaves alternate, pinnate, with a long round common 

 footstalk, leaflets oblong, acute, nearly sessile, about an inch long, 

 unequal at the base, serrated from about the middle with unequal often 

 double serratures, smooth above, downy beneath, but often becoming 

 smooth, the mid-rib with branched slender veins. Lnjiorescencea. terminal 

 corymbose panicle, of numerous whitish Jlou-ers, its branches downy, 

 the lower ones often accompanied with leaves. Calyx woolly, with 

 five acute segments. Styles five, with obtuse concave stigmas. Fruit 

 obovate, about an inch long, of a reddish spotted colour, with an 

 austere taste, causing much pain and irritation in the mouth and throat 

 when tasted in an unripe state; but when frosted and mellow, ihey 

 become soft and brown, and resemble a Medlar, both in colour and 

 taste, though not so agreeable. 



Habitat. — The mountainous parts of Cornwall, and in the moor- 

 lands of Staffordshire, but not common. 



Tree ; flowering in May. 



The fruit of the Service-tree has some resemblance to the Medlar, 

 but is not considered so good, and is now seldom cultivated ; it 

 is an ornamental plantation tree, but not so handsome as the last 

 species, and its fruit is not so showy. Jt is much more common 



