POMACES. VIII. MESPILUS. IX. OSTEOMELIS. X. PYRUS. 



605 



1 M. GERMA'NICA (Lin. spec. 684.) leaves lanceolate, undi- 

 vided, a little downy, but most so beneath ; flowers solitary. Tj . H. 

 Native of Europe and Siberia, in woods and among bushes ; in 

 England, in all the hedges about Minshill, Cheshire ; about 

 Ashburnham, Sussex, truly wild. Smith, engl. bot. 1523. G;ertn. 

 fr. '2. p. 43. t. 87. Duham. arbr. 2. t. 4. Pall. fl. ross. 1. 13. f. 1. 



Far. a, sylvestris (Mill. diet. no. 1.) thorny; fruit small. 

 Wild Medlar, Neflier du bois. Fruit obovate, middle-sized, dry, 

 and worthless. 



Var. ft, stricta (D. C. prod. 2. p. 633.) unarmed ; leaves 

 doubly serrated. Ait. hort. kew. 2. p. 172. 



Var. y, diffusa (D. C. prod. 2. p. 633.) unarmed ; leaves 

 almost entire. Ait. 1. c. Duham. arb. fr. 1. t. 3. Seeds usually 

 abortive. The following garden medlars belong to this variety : 



1 Blake's large medlar. 



2 Dutch medlar, common, large Dutch, broad-leaved Dutch, 

 large-fruited, large German, neflier a gros fruit, neflier de Hoi- 

 lande a gros fruit. Fruit large, oblate. The largest of any, 

 but not so good as the following. 



3 Nottingham medlar, common, small-fruited, narrow-leaved 

 Dutch. Fruit obovate, middle-sized. This is the best of all 

 the medlars. 



4 Stoneless medlar, neflier sans noyeau, neflier sans pepins, 

 French medlar. Fruit small, obovate, of little merit. 



Use. The medlar is eaten raw in a state of incipient decay ; 

 its taste and flavour are peculiar, and by some much esteemed. 



Propagation. By seeds, by layers, or by grafting on seed- 

 lings of their own species, or on any kind of plant of Pomaceee. 

 Miller observes that if the stones are taken out of the fruit as 

 soon as it is ripe, and immediately planted, they will come up 

 the following spring and make good plants in two years. He 

 prefers raising from seed to grafting on the Cratc&gus. Forsyth 

 says, " those who wish to keep the sorts true, should propagate 

 them by grafting on their own stocks." 



Soil. The soil in which the medlar thrives best is a loamy 

 rich earth, rather moist than dry, but not on a wet bottom. 



Final planting. The medlar, like the quince, is usually grown 

 as standards or espaliers ; the former may be planted from 20 

 to 30, and the latter from 15 to 20 feet apart. 



Mode of bearing. On small spurs at the ends and sides of 

 the branches. 



Pruning. Forsyth recommends the same sort of treatment 

 as for the quince. Cut out all the dead and cankery wood, and 

 keep the tree thin of branches, when it is desired to have large 

 fruit. Care is requisite to train standards with tall steins. Es- 

 paliers will require a summer and winter pruning, as in the apple 

 tree. 



German or Common Medlar. Fl. May, July. 

 10 to 20 feet. 



2 M. SMI'THII (D. C. prod. 2. 

 p. 633.) leaves oblong, elliptic, 

 serrated, pubescent on the nerves 

 beneath ; flowers usually solitary. 

 fj . H. Native country unknown. 

 M. grandiflora, Smith, exot. bot. 

 1. p. 33. t. 18. Flowers white, 

 one half smaller than those of the 

 common medlar. Stipulas of the 

 sterile branches large and folia- 

 ceous. 



Smith's Medlar. Fl. May, Ju. 

 Clt. ? Tree 20 feet. 



Cult. For culture and propa- 

 gation see common medlar. 



IX. OSTEOME'LIS (from oaTeov,osteon, a bone, and firi\oi>, 



Britain. Tree 

 FIG. 83. 



melon, an apple ; in reference to the bony endocarp). Lindl. in 

 Lin. trans. 13. p. 98. t. 8. D. C. prod. 2. p. 633. 



LIN. SYST. Icosandria, Pentagynia. Calyx 5-cleft. Petals ob- 

 long, flat, spreading. Stamens erect. Styles 5, exserted, length 

 of stamens, bearded below, permanent. Ovary 5-celled ; cells 

 1 -seeded. Pome closed, woolly ; endocarp bony. A shrub 

 with pinnate leaves, entire leaflets, and opposite subulate brae- 

 teas under the calyxes. 



1 O. ANTHYLUDIFOLIA (Lindl. 1. c.). Tj . G. Native of the 

 Sandwich Islands. Pyrus anthyllidifolia, Smith, in Rees' cycl. 

 no. 29. Flowers subcorymbose. Fruit small, crowned by the 

 styles and calyx. 



Kidney-vetch-leaved Osteomelis. Shrub 4 to 6 feet. 



Cult. A mixture of loam and peat will suit this shrub, and 

 ripened cuttings will probably root if planted in a pot of sand, 

 with a hand-glass placed over them. But the best and surest 

 method of increasing it, when it shall be introduced to the gar- 

 dens, would be to graft it on the Cydonia Japonica. 



X. PY'RUS (peren, Celtic for the pear). Lindl. in Lin. 

 trans. 13. p. 97. D. C. prod. 2. p. 633 Pyrus, Mains and 

 Sorbus, Tourn. Pyrus and Sorbus, Lin. Pyrophorum and 

 Apyrophorum, Neck. 



LIN. SYST. Icosandria, Pentagynia. Calyx with an urceo- 

 late tube, and a 5-lobed limb. Petals roundish. Styles usually 

 5, rarely 2 or 3. Pome closed, 5-celled ; putamen cartilaginous. 

 Seeds 2 in each cell ; testa cartilaginous. Trees or shrubs, with 

 simple or pinnate leaves, and terminal, many-flowered cymes. 

 Bracteas subulate, deciduous. 



SECT. I, PYRO'PHORUM (from pyrus, a pear, and (poptw, 

 pJwreo, to bear ; the trees contained in this section bear pears). 

 D. C. prod. 2. p. 633. Petals flat, spreading. Styles 5, free. 

 Pome more or less turbinate or nearly globose, never umbilicate 

 at the base, as in the apple section. Pedicels simple, umbellate. 

 Leaves simple, glandless. 



1 P. COMMU NIS (Lin. spec. 686.) leaves ovate, serrated, gla- 

 brous on both surfaces, as well as the buds and branches ; pe- 

 duncles umbellate. T? . H. Native of Europe, in woods and 

 hedges ; plentiful in some parts of Britain. Smith, engl. bot. 

 1784. P. A'chas, Gaertn. fruct. 2. p. 44. t. 87. P. sylvestris, 

 Dod. pempt. 800. Pyraster, Ray, syn. 452. The tree is thorny 

 in a wild state, but unarmed in the cultivated state. 



Var. a, A^chras (Wallr. sched. 213.) thorny ; leaves ovate, 

 acuminated, quite entire, on long petioles, when young woolly as 

 well as the calyx, but at length becoming smooth ; pome drawn 

 out at the base. Tj . H. Wild pear or iron pear. 



Var. ft, pyrdster (Wallr. sched. p. 214.) thorny ; leaves round- 

 ish, acute, sharply serrated, when young glabrous as well as the 

 calyxes ; pome rounded at the base. (3 H. Gaertn. fruct. 2. 

 t. 87. f. 2. 



The pear tree is called poirier in French, birnbaum in Ger- 

 man, and pero in Italian. In its wild state, the pear is a thorny 

 tree, with upright branches, tending to a pyramidal form, in 

 which it differs materially from the apple tree. The twigs or 

 spray hang down ; the flowers in terminal villous corymbs, pro- 

 duced from wood of the preceding year, or from buds gradually 

 formed on that of several years' growth, on the extremities of 

 very short protruding shoots, technically spurs. It is found in 

 a wild state in Britain, and abundantly in France and Germany, 

 as well as other parts of Europe, not excepting Russia, as far 

 as latitude 51. It grows in almost any soil. The cultivated 

 tree differs from the apple, not only in having a tendency to the 

 pyramidal form, but also in being more apt to send out tap 

 roots, in being as a seeding plant much longer in coming into 

 bearing, and when on its own root, or grafted on a wild pear 

 stock, of being much longer lived. In a dry soil it will exist 



