894' ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



much more ornamental, and are, besides, fragrant. It seldom grows above half 

 the height of the pear tree; the oldest apple trees known in Europe not being 

 above 30 ft. or 35 ft. in height. The trunk is generally crooked, and the 

 branches rambling horizontally when young, and when old becoming pen- 

 dulous. The diameter of the head is also often greater than the height of the 

 tree. The apple tree is much more liable to the canker, and other diseases, than 

 the pear tree. Numerous as are the varieties of both apples and pears, the 

 species to which these varieties belong may always be known in a moment, by 

 inspecting the leaves. Those of the apple are more shortly mucronate, less 

 evidently serrated, and somewhat more hairy underneath, than those of the 

 pear. The leaves of the pear are elliptical, smooth, and shining above, and 

 serrated, but not mucronate. The blossoms of the apple are tinged with red, 

 and are fragrant; while those of the pear are of a pure white, and scentless. 

 The fruit of the two trees is not less different than the leaves and the flowers. 

 The apple is hollowed at the insertion of the peduncle, depressed at top, of a 

 softer texture than the pear, and less astringent, but more acid. The apple 

 has woody threads passing through it to the peduncle, ten of which are regu- 

 larly disposed round the capsules, tending towards the calyx ; and it is said that 

 the fruit rots when these are broken. The pear also has these threads ; but in 

 that fruit they are not so distinct, on account of the gritty matter which pre- 

 vails in many of the sorts, and especially in wild pears. " The cells are dif- 

 ferently shaped in the two fruits : in the apple they are narrow, and pointed 

 at both ends ; in the pear they are obovate, broad exteriorly, and drawing to 

 a point at the end next the centre of the fruit. The pear, however it may 

 vary in shape, size, colour, taste, &c., by cultivation, is generally convex, and 

 lengthened out at the base ; whereas the apple is always concave there. 

 Besides this, the leaves of the apple are commonly wider in proportion to 

 their length, of a yellower green above, and whitish underneath ; whereas in 

 the pear they are dark green above, and quite smooth on both sides. Their 

 vascular system is very different, being loose in the apple, and very close in the 

 pear : hence the leaves of the latter are nuich stouter, and more [)ermancnt, 

 than those of the former. Lastly, the growth of these trees is quite different; 

 the pear being lofty and upright, the apple low and spreading." {Martyii's 

 Miller.) 



Geography. The apple grows spontaneously in every part of Europe, 

 except the torrid zone. It is found throughout Western Asia, China, and 

 Japan ; but not in North America, unless we consider P. coronaria as a 

 variety of P. il/alus. In the north of Europe, it is found as far as West Fin- 

 land, in lat. 62°; in Sweden, in lat. 58° or 59°; and in Central Russia, to 

 35° or 60°. The crab of Europe is wanting in Siberia, but there the Siberian 

 forms of the species are, as Pallas assures us, found widely distributed over 

 the country. The apple is stated, by Royle, to be cultivated in the southern 

 parts of India, and also in the Himalayas, and in China and Japan ; but it is 

 not indigenous to the warmer parts of these countries. As an instance of the 

 difficulties attendant on the introduction of European plants into the north of 

 India, Mr. Royle mentions that " an apple tree from Liverpool, in conse- 

 quence of being the only one which survived, cost upwards of 70/. before it 

 was planted in the nursery at Mossuree." (I/htst., p. 206.) In Britain, the 

 apple is found in a wild state, in hedges, and on the margins of woods, as far 

 north as Morayshire, and as high as the agricultural zone. In the Highlands 

 of Scotland, the apple tree is the badge of the clan Lamont. It is found wild 

 in Ireland, but it is rare there. Wherever the apple occurs in a truly wild 

 state, the tree is, when young, generally more or less furnished with thorns ; 

 but these disappear as it advances in age ; and, in fertile soils, the crab, like 

 the common hawthorn in a wild state, may even be found altogether thornless. 

 The crab never grows wild except on tolerably good soils, for which reason it 

 is never found associated with the wild pear. 



History. The apple tree is mentioned by Theophrastus, Herodotus, and in 

 sacred history. Pliny informs us that the Greeks called the apple Medica, 



