THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 79 



by the United States Department of Agriculture, says that it is affected 

 but slightly by leaf-blight, holds its foliage well in hot summers, and has 

 a long budding season. These statements indicate that it is worth trying 

 as a stock. 



7. PRYXJS BETULJEFOLIA Bunge 



1. P. betulafolia Bunge Mem. Sav. Etr. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb. 2:101. 1833. 



2. Decaisne Jard. Fruit. 1 :20. 1872. 



3. Carriere Rev. Hort. 318. 1879. %s. 68, 69. 



4. Sargent Card. & For. 7:224. 1894. n g- 39- 



Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, open-topped, hardy; trunk stocky, shaggy 

 and rough; branches thick, dull brownish-red, thickly coated with gray scarf-skin, sprinkled 

 with numerous small, raised lenticels; branchlets slender, willowy, long, with long inter- 

 nodes, dull reddish-brown, with gray scarf-skin, heavily pubescent, with small, conspicuous, 

 raised lenticels. Leaf- buds small, short, flattened, pointed, free. Leaves 4 in. long, 25 

 in. wide, thick, stiff; apex taper-pointed; margin sharply and coarsely serrate; teeth 

 tipped with small, reddish-brown glands; petiole if in. long, slender, pubescent, tinged 

 red. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free, arranged singly on long spurs; flowers 

 open late, with a rather unpleasant odor, showy, ij\ in. across, white, in dense clusters, 

 13 buds in a cluster; pedicels ijj- in. long, slender, pubescent, pale green; calyx-tube 

 pale green mingled with white pubescence, dark greenish-yellow within, campanulate, 

 thickly pubescent; calyx-lobes greenish within and with white pubescence, short, narrow, 

 acuminate, tipped with very small, sharp, reddish-brown glands, heavily pubescent within 

 and without, reflexed; petals separated at the base but with meeting cheeks, round-oval, 

 entire, with short, narrow claws, white at the base; anthers deep pinkish-red; filaments 

 short, shorter than the petals; styles 2 to 3 ; pistils glabrous, usually as long as the stamens; 

 stigma very small. Fruit russet, heavily dotted, the size of a small grape; calyx deciduous; 

 pears hanging until the following spring. 



The above description was made from a plant grown from seed obtained 

 from the Arnold Arboretum in 1900, that institution having obtained the 

 species from the mountains near Peking in 1882. This pear has been 

 collected by various explorers in the regions about Peking, especially to 

 the north and east, and is not uncommon in these parts of China. The 

 small pears are without value for food, but the trees are promising stocks. 

 While Reimer reports the species as susceptible to fire- blight in Oregon, 

 it has not proved particularly so on the grounds of this Station nor else- 

 where in the East. The seedlings are also free from leaf -blight. The 

 young plants grow vigorously from seed or cuttings; are capable of being 

 budded throughout a long season ; they make a good union with other pears 

 in China according to Reimer; and the variety is so common in China 

 that there is little difficulty in getting seed true to name. The tree is a 

 handsome ornamental. 



