66 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



they are said to be submerged. When star-like, they are called stellate. 

 If surrounded by a halo of lighter color, they are said to be areolar. In 

 some varieties, the dots are elongated. Very often the dots are russeted. 

 The roughened outer skin, called scarf-skin, gives a distinguishing appearance 

 to a few pears. 



Cutting pears to show the internal structure. — When varieties cannot be 

 distinguished from external marks, there are several very reliable characters 

 that can be made use of in the internal anatomy of the fruits. To study 

 these it is necessary to make a longitudinal and a transverse section of the 

 pear. To make an accurate examination of the internal structure, the 

 sectioning must be done with a keen, thin knife, with a steady hand, and a 

 good eye. 



In making the longitudinal section the knife should pass through the 

 center of the calyx, showing the remnants of styles and stamens; through 

 the middle of the core cell, showing the outline of the core cavity; and 

 through the middle of the stem. A true record cannot be obtained, unless 

 the organs named are divided fairly accurately in halves. In making the 

 transverse section, the knife should pass through the widest diameter 

 of the fruit, cutting the core in half. If the core is not in the center 

 of the fruit, trial cuts to locate it must be made that it may be halved 

 exactly. 



The stamens, calyx-tube, and styles. — After halving the fruit longi- 

 tudinally, the first organs to be studied are the stamens, the position of 

 which furnishes reliable taxonomic data in apples and is occasionally worth 

 noting in pears. Passing from the stamens to the calyx-tube, it will be 

 found that the shape of this structure is of some use in separating varieties, 

 although it is exceedingly variable in accordance with the size of the pear, 

 and is materially altered by abnormalities in the fruit. The base of the 

 styles in some varieties develop into fleshy tissue which alters the shape 

 of the calyx-tube. The calyx-tube may be cone-shaped, funnel-shaped, or 

 urn-shaped. When funnel-shaped, the broad upper part is called the limb; 

 the narrow lower part, the cylinder. In some varieties the remnants of 

 the styles are often more or less fleshy and form a point, called the pistil 

 point, which projects into the calyx-tube. 



The core. — The position of the core in the fruit is often a valuable 

 means of distinguishing varieties. If close to the stem, the core is said 

 to be sessile; if at the center of the pome, it is median; when distant from 

 the stem, distant. 



