POMACES. 217 



337. L.c. 366. A. 18. C. 75. Lat. 50-61°. Alt. 0-900 yds. 

 Tern. 50-38°. 



Small tree, with erect branches. Leaves pinnate; leaflets 10- 

 14, with a terminal one, opposite, ovate-oblong, toothed, gla- 

 brous above, hoary-silky below. Flowers small, white, coi'ym- 

 bose. Fruit small, globular, with 2-3 imequal cells, rarely 4 : 

 red, pulpy- succulent, acid, bitter. 



Flowers, May, June ; fruit, September. 



P. torminalis, Crantz. Wild Service-tree. — e.b. 298. l.c. 

 364. A. 8. C. 30. Lat. 50-54°. Alt. 0-200 yds. Tem. 50-48°. 



Small tree or bush. Leaves broadly ovate or slightly cordate 

 at the base, loith lanceolate or triangular serrated lobes, glabrous. 

 Flowers corymbose, on downy or shaggy peduncles and pedicels. 

 Fruit '^ ovate, brown." 



In Worcestershire the fruit of this tree is occasionally seen 

 brought to market, especially at Stourbridge. The tree abounds 

 in Wyre Forest. Perennial; April, May. Fruit in September, 



This tree is often confounded with P. domestica. Its fruit is 

 not of good repute. 



The following account of P. torminalis is from the late Dr. 

 Bromfield^s ' Flora Vectensis,^ p. 167. The dimensions were 

 taken last summer, August, 1857, from which we ascertained 

 that it was still growing and thriving. 



" The largest Wild Service-tree in the island, with which I am 

 acquainted, stands in Quarr Copse, about twenty j-ards from the 

 Binstead entrance, on the left-hand, and perhaps a dozen yards 

 from the main path, overhanging a deep hollow. The girth of 

 this tree, at about two feet from the gi^ound, I found to be six 

 feet eleven inches ; at three feet, it measured five feet six inches ; 

 and at five feet, five feet two inches, ^ts height I estimate at 

 little under forty feet. The large, rounded, oak-like head, spread- 

 ing limbs, and leaning trunk, render it a very picturesque object, 

 and especially so when clothed in the gorgeous covering of au- 

 tumn. The specimen is probably of great age, and, though flow- 

 ering freely, fruits but sparingly. Trees sufficiently large or ola 

 for bearing, are indeed seldom to be met with in our woods, from 

 its being cut periodically with the copse- wood. 



" This species has long been, and still is, strangely confounded 

 with the true Service-tree (P. domestica), a very difierent kind, 

 with much larger, pear-shaped fruit and pinnated leaves, like 



28 2/ 



