Pyrus 



^57 



in Cornwall, South Devon, and Gloucestershire,' which is very near to, if not 

 absolutely identical with, the Fontainebleau tree, as some of the specimens have 

 leaves which resemble rather those of the varieties rotundifolia and semilobata. 

 The South Devon tree produces fertile seed,^ which has been planted, and the 

 offspring differs in no respect from the wild trees. In English trees the flowers 

 are reported to have a disagreeable odour,^ and the fruit ripens in the end of 

 October or November. When fully grown, but still hard, it is olivaceous brown 

 in colour, with numerous scattered small brown or grey dots ; but when quite 

 mature it becomes reddish. At Minehead in Somerset, the Nightingale Valley 

 and Leigh Woods near Bristol, and at Castle Dinas Bran, Denbigh, the variety 

 decipiens occurs.* Mr. E. S. Marshall observed a remarkably fine specimen with 

 good fruit on the Conan river in East Ross-shire ; but as no other specimen was seen 

 this tree is probably not wild in that locality. The tree in Earl Bathurst's woods 

 near Cirencester has given rise to some difference of opinion. It was identified at 

 Kew as Pyrus intermedia ; but in the specimens which I have seen' the leaves have 

 the triangular lobing and tomentum of Pyrus laiifolia, and I have no doubt that it is 

 this species.^ Its foliage is very variable, some leaves being broad, with rounded 

 bases like the type, whilst others have narrowed bases, and approximate in outline to 

 the decipiens variety. 



Remarkable Trees 



Pyrus latifolia is seldom planted except in botanical gardens, as at Kew, Edin- 

 burgh, and Glasnevin. There are several fine trees at Edinburgh, one of which was 

 figured in the Gardeners Chronicle^ for 1882, when it was 45 feet high by 5 feet 3 

 inches in girth. Professor Balfour had the tree measured again in January 1904, 

 when it was 45 feet high by 6 feet 6 inches in girth. A year or two before it was 

 considerably pruned on the top branches, and this probably accounts for it not being 

 higher in 1904 than it was in 1882. Professor Balfour kindly sent me specimens of 

 the Edinburgh trees, which, though they differ slightly, are all referable to Pyrus 

 latifolia. He informed me that while the birds eat the fruit off one tree as soon as it 

 is ripe, in another the fruit remains on the tree untouched. The variability of the 

 fruit in this species is remarkable, and points undoubtedly to hybrid origin. 



A tree exists at Oakleigh House,' near Keynsham in Somerset, which was 

 planted many years ago. (A. H.) 



' " Occurs at Bicknor, Coldwell, and Symond's Val, which form a single range of wooded limestone rock in West 

 Gloucestershire, about \ mile in length." Rev. A. Ley, Bot. Exchg. Club Report, 1893, p. 415. "French Hales" is the 

 name given to this species in Devon, according to Britten and Holland, Diet. Eng. Plant Navies, p. 194 (1886). They state 

 that the fruits are sold in Barnstaple market. These authors call the tree Pyrus scandica, as, at the time they were writing, 

 its identity with the Fontainebleau tree was not established. 



'' Briggs, y<jn Bot. 1887, p. 209, and 1888, p. 236. 



3 Briggs, Flora of Plymouth, 144 (1880) ; and Boswell, Bot. Exchg. Club Report, 1872-74, p. 20. 



Cf. N. E. Brown, loc. cit. 165. Mr. J. White reports a tree 30 feet high in Leigh Wood {Hot. Exchg. Club Report, 

 1902, p. 45). 



* Mr. Hickel, Inspecteur des eaux et forets, who knows the Fontainebleau tree well, and to whom I sent specimens, is 

 of my opinion. 



Vol. xviii. 749. ' Jour. Bot. 1899, p. 488. 



