PYRUS 283 



shoots downy at first, becoming smooth later. Leaves on the flowering and 

 weaker shoots usually narrowly or broadly ovate, and from i^ to 3 ins. long ; 

 rounded or tapering at the base, rather coarsely toothed ; on strong shoots 

 they are occasionally three- or five-lobed, 3 to 4^ ins long, and half as wide ; 

 upper surface dark dullish green, smooth ; lower one paler and downy ; stalk 

 i to i in, long, downy. Flowers i to ij ins. across, rosy red in bud, pale 

 pink when open, produced in clusters of four to seven, each on a stalk i to i 

 ins. long. Fruit round, f in. diameter, yellow, with the calyx fallen away. 



Introduced from Japan about 1862, and perhaps the most beautiful of all 

 crabs in flower. It blossoms towards the end of April, producing then an 

 amazing profusion of flowers, each branch a garland. Perhaps its beauty is 

 greatest when half the flowers are expanded, the pale pink contrasting with 

 the rich rose of the other half still in bud. This crab is not considered to be 

 a true wild species, but a hybrid from P. Toringo and perhaps P. baccata. 

 The deeply three- or even five-lobed leaves occasionally seen on strong 

 branches certainly indicates affinity with P. Toringo (q.v.\ The largest tree 

 I have seen is in the botanic garden at Herrenhausen, Hanover. In the 

 summer of 1908 it was 35 ft. high, 42 ft. in diameter, its trunk girthing 

 4 ft. 3 ins. 



Var. ATROSANGUINEA. Flowers of a richer rose than the type, especially 

 when fully open, otherwise similar. Foliage shining green. 

 



P. FOLGNERI, Leveilld. 



(Micromeles Folgneri, C. K. Schneider?) 



A tree up to 30 ft. high, with slender, often semi pendulous branches ; 

 young shoots at first covered with whitish felt, becoming smooth by autumn ; 

 winter buds pointed, slender, smooth. 'Leaves lanceolate or narrowly ovate, 

 tapering to both ends ; 2 to 3^ ins. long, f to i \ ins. wide ; long-pointed, 

 dark green and smooth above, covered beneath with a close, beautifully 

 silvery white felt ; nerves parallel in eight to ten pairs ; stalk about | in. long. 

 Corymbs 3 to 4 ins. across, sometimes rather elongated, carrying numerous 

 rather densely arranged flowers \ to \ in. in diameter and white ; calyx and 

 flower-stalk woolly. Fruit oval or obovate, \ in. across, red, not crowned by 

 calyx teeth, but with a small pit at the apex. 



Native of Hupeh, China ; introduced by Wilson for Messrs Veitch about 

 1901, and reared in the Coombe Wood nursery. As represented in gardens, it 

 varies considerably in the whiteness of the under-surface, and in the more or 

 less pendent character of its branches. In one form it is beautifully elegant, 

 the branches arching outwards and drooping at the ends, and the leaves are 

 vividly white beneath. Its nearest allies among cultivated Py ruses are P. 

 alnifolia and P. caloneura'; neither white beneath the leaf. 



P. GLABRA, Boissier. PERSIAN PEAR. 



A tree 1 5 to 20 ft. high, with often spine-tipped branches ; young shoots 

 at first covered with grey wool, becoming smooth by summer. Leaves 

 li to 4 ins. long, \ to f in. wide; linear-lanceolate, long-pointed, slightly 

 round-toothed or quite entire, green on both sides and quite smooth almost 

 from the very first on both sides ; stalk \ to i| ins. long. Flowers i in. across, 

 white, produced in a cluster of five to eight f flower-stalks and the inner face 

 of sepals more or less woolly. Fruit roundish. 



Native of Persia. In Decaisne's observations on this species (Jardin 

 Fruitier, vol. i., t. 11), it is stated on the authority of a Mr Haussknecht that 

 the pips of this pear are pickled in brine by the Persians and eaten. The 

 tree is rare in gardens, where, indeed, it has little to recommend it. 



