THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 73 



species is sometimes under cultivation in France for the fruits which make 

 very good perry, and when bletted, as is the medlar, are suitable for dessert. 

 In Austria and adjoining parts of Germany, the species is somewhat 

 cultivated for the same purposes as in France under the name Schnee birn 

 or Snow pear, because not fit to eat until snow falls. This pear might 

 have value to hybridize with common pears for the improvement of their 

 fruit. 



Botanists are not quite certain of the botanical standing of P. nivalis. 

 By some botanists it is considered a cultivated form of P. elaagrifolia Pallas. 

 By others it is thought to be a cross of which P. communis is one parent. 

 P. salvifolm De Candolle is either closely allied to or identical with this 

 species. P. kotschyana Boissier differs from P. nivalis chiefly in having 

 smaller and harder fruits. P. elaagrifolia Pallas is distinguished by some 

 botanists from P. kotschyana only by its spiny branches not a constant 

 character. 



3. PYRUS AURICULARIS Knoop 



1. Pomol. 2:38. 1763. 



2. P. irregularis Muenchhausen Hausvater 5:246. 1770. 



3. P. pollveria Linnaeus Mant. 2:244. '77 1 - 



4. P. bollwyleriana De Candolle Fl. France Suppl. 5:530. 1815. 



A tree 30 to 50 ft. high, forming a round head; branchlets and buds downy. Leaves 

 ovate or oval, 3 to 4 in. long, 2 to 2$ in. wide; pointed, irregular, and coarsely and some- 

 times doubly toothed; upper surface glossy, dark green, with glands on the midrib, 

 glabrous at maturity, downy when young; lower surface permanently covered with gray 

 tomentum; stalk i to i| in. long, woolly. Flowers white, nearly i in. across, 5 to 20 in 

 tomentose corymbs; sepals covered with pure white wool on both surfaces; styles 2 to 5, 

 united and tomentose at the base; stamens rosy red. Fruit pyriform, i to ij in. in 

 diameter; stalk i to if in. long, reddish yellow; flesh yellow, sweet. 



This tree is an interesting hybrid between P. communis and the 

 whitebeam, P. aria. It was first noticed at Bollweiler, Alsace, and was 

 first mentioned by J. Bauhin in 1619. It is propagated by grafts as few 

 of the seeds are fertile and these do not come true to name. It bears fruit 

 very sparingly, none being produced in some seasons. 



Besides the species that have been named there are several other 

 occidental pears named by European botanists which may be looked for 

 in botanic gardens. Some of these might have value for work in hybridiza- 

 tion but it is doubtful. Of these, P. heterophylla Regel and Schmalhausen 

 (Act. Hort. Petropol 5:pt. ii, 581. 1878) is a small thorny tree from the 

 mountain valleys of Turkestan. P. amygdalijormis Villars (Cat. Meth. 



