PYRUS 285 



This extraordinary pear was originally discovered in E. Turkestan by 

 the late Albert Regel, and was raised and distributed (about 1891) by Dr 

 Dieck of Zoeschen, Germany. The two forms of leaf described above would 

 never be regarded as belonging to the same species, but I have seen both, as 

 well as intermediate ones, on the same plant. 



P. INTERMEDIA, Ehrhart. SWEDISH WHITEBEAM. 



(P. scandica, Ascherson ; Sorbus intermedia, JPersoon.) 



A tree 20 to 40 ft., occasionally more, high, sometimes a shrub in a wild 

 state ; shoots very woolly when young, becoming smooth by winter. Leaves 

 2 to 4^ ins. long, I to 3 ins. wide ; broadly oval or ovate, tapering or rounded 

 at the base, rounded or pointed at the apex ; margins lobed towards the 

 base, the lobes becoming reduced to double or jagged teeth near the apex ; 

 ribs in six to nine pairs ; upper surface smooth polished green when mature; 

 lower surface covered with a close grey felt. Flowers dull white, f in. across, 

 produced during May in large corymbs up to 5 ins. across ; calyx and flower- 

 stalk very woolly. Fruit oval, ^ in. long, red, surmounted by reflexed calyx 

 teeth. 



Native of N. and Central Europe, and found in a few places in Wales 

 and the West of England on limestone. It is easily distinguished from 

 P. Aria by the dull grey (not white), felt beneath the leaf. It is nearer, and 

 liable to be confused with, P. latifolia, but the leaves are always permanently 

 felted beneath, narrower at the base, not so deeply lobed, and do not suggest 

 those of P. Torminalis as the leaves of P. latifolia do. The groove between 

 the lobes is narrower, often almost closed at the base, in P. intermedia, and 

 the winter buds are darker. This tree is a variable one, and several forms 

 of it have been regarded as species by some authorities. The following is 

 perhaps the most distinct, but there are others of an intermediate character, 

 and some with leaves whose lower lobes are almost cut to the midrib, and 

 thus show affinity with P. pinnatifida. 



Var. MINIMA (P. minima, Ley}. This is described as a small shrub clothing 

 limestone cliffs in two or three places in Breconshire, but the shrubby habit 

 with this (as with other wild forms of P. intermedia) is due apparently to the 

 impoverished conditions under which they grow. Young plants obtained 

 from the natural habitat are, at Kew, making well-formed trees already 12 ft. 

 high, the growths I to 2 ft. long in a year. The fruits are described as coral 

 red, bitter, and resembling those of P. Aucuparia ; the leaves, except in being 

 smaller, are like those of P. intermedia ; and the flowers also smaller, have 

 the same whitish woolly covering to the calyx and stalks. The winter buds, 

 too, are the same. 



P. MOUGEOTI (Sorbus Mougeoti, Soyer) is nearly allied to P. intermedia, 

 differing chiefly in having nine to twelve pairs of ribs in each leaf, and paler 

 felt beneath ; fruits about \ in. wide, red, roundish. Native of S. and E. 

 Europe. 



P. IOENSIS, Bailey. IOWA CRAB. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8488 ; Malus ioensis, Britlon.} 



A tree of the same character as P. angustifolia and P. coronaria (q.v?), but 

 differing in the much more downy branches, the down on which persists 

 until the summer of the following year ; side branchlets often spine-tipped. 

 Leaves ovate or oval, 3 to 4 ins. long, half or a little more than half as wide ; 

 persistently woojly beneath, coarsely toothed towards the apex. Flowers 

 ii to 2 ins. across, white or rosy, four to six in a corymb ; stalks I to ij ins. 



