Genus PYRUS, Lindl. 
Rosaceae. 
Syst. Nat. 
Iscondria Di-Pentagynia. 
Syst. Lin. 
Synonymes. 
Pyrus, Pyraster Mains, Sorbus j Qp AuTH0RS . 
Ana, Aroma, Lratagus, Mespilus, ) 
Derivations. The word Pyrus is derived from the Celtic peren, the pear; and Malus is the ancient Roman name of the 
apple-tree. The other names have been applied to various trees of this genus, from the analogy they were supposed to bear to 
the Aria, Aronia, etc. 
Generic Characters. Carpels 5, or 2 5. Seeds 2 in each carpel. Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple or 
pinnate, deciduous. Flowers in spreading terminal cymes or corymbs. London, Arboretum. 
^HE genus Pyrus is composed of low trees and shrubs, mostly decid- 
uous, and natives of Europe, Asia, and of North America. Some 
of them are held in high estimation for their fruit ; while others 
are cultivated chiefly for their flowers. Under this head, modern 
botanists have united the old genera Pyrus, Malus, and Sorbus, 
together with several species formerly included under Mespilus, 
Crataegus, Aronia, and others. Taking the generic characters from the fruit, we 
agree with Mr. Loudon, that this union appears strictly in accordance with the 
canons laid down by botanists ; but we cannot help stating, with him, that, in 
our opinion, it would be much more convenient, in a practical point of view, in 
establishing genera, to take into consideration the leaves, the character of the 
vegetation, the physiology, and even the habit, of the plant, than merely to draw 
the distinctive characters from the parts of fructification. In consequence of 
attending only to these parts of plants, the genus Pyrus, as at present constituted, 
contains species, such as the apple and pear, which will not readily graft on each 
other ; a circumstance which clearly shows that the union of these two kinds of 
plants, in one genus, is not a natural one. We think that no plants should be 
comprehended in the same genus, which will not graft reciprocally on each 
other, nor those of different habits or constitutions ; and, consequently, that twin- 
ing plants should not be classified with trees and upright shrubs ; nor deciduous 
trees and shrubs with evergreens. When a more perfect knowledge is obtained 
of all the vegetable productions of the earth, we have no doubt that it will be 
found necessary to remodel all of the genera, as well as to give, in many cases, 
new and characteristic names to the species, a labour which, formidable as it 
may appear at first view, will be diminished to a degree scarcely credible, when 
the present chaos of names, and apparently of species, is reduced by simplifica- 
tion.* 
Under the genus Pyrus are at present included the apple and the pear, which 
were formerly considered as distinct. Those authors most tanacious concerning 
the establishment of the two vegetables as different genera, have drawn their 
characters from the adherence of the lower part of the five styles to their villosity, 
to the spheroidal form of their fruit, and to the stem of the apple being set in a 
cavity, characters which are by no means constant, and are frequently effaced. 
M. Turpin, in a memoir to the French Academy of Sciences, on the differenco 
* See London's Arboretum Britannicum, ii., p. 879. 
