288 PYRUS COMMUNIS. 
permanent ; to which Mr. Loudon added several others, the result of cultivation, 
and which 'he considers as more or less accidental or temporary. To these we 
have subjoined a group of wild pears, with hoary leaves, which may be regarded 
as varieties or races, though commonly treated as species : 
1. P. c. achras. The Spiny-leaved Pear-tree. This variety may be known 
by its spiny, ovate, acuminate, entire leaves, with long petioles. The leaves and 
the tube of the calyx are woolly, when young, but afterwards glabrous. Pome 
with its basal part long. 
2. P. c. pyraster. The Wild Acerb-fruited Pear-tree, distinguished by its 
spiny branches, roundish, acute, sharply-serrated leaves, glabrous even when 
young, as is the tube of the calyx. Pome rounded at the base, gritty, sour, bit- 
ter, and harsh to the taste. 
3. P. c. foliis variegatis. Variegated-leaved Pear-tree. 
4. P. c. fructu variegato. Variegated-fruited Pear-tree, the skin of the fruit 
of which is variegated with yellow and white. 
5. P. c. sanguinolenta. The Sanguinole Pear-tree, the flesh of the fruit of 
which is red or reddish ; and, though small and gritty, is edible when ripe. 
6. P. c. flore pleno. Double-flowered Pear-tree ; Poirier de I 'Armenie, of the 
French, distinguished for its double flowers. 
7. P. c. jaspida. The Jasper-barked Pear-tree ; Bon Chretien d boisjaspe, of 
the French, having the bark of the wood striped with yellow. 
8. P. c. sativa. The Spineless cultivated Pear-tree, from which originated the 
numerous sub-varieties growing in gardens, with edible fruit. Their number at 
present amount to several thousand, and it is to be regretted that the speciality 
of this work will not permit us to treat of them in detail, after the manner of 
describing the different varieties of the common cherry. 
9. P. c. salvifolia, (P. salvifolia, De Candolle,) Sage-leaved or Aurelian Pear- 
tree, with thick branches; tomentose buds; entire lanceolate leaves, tomentose 
all over when young, but glabrous on the upper surface when adult. Its fruit is 
thick, long, and suitable for making perry. It occurs both wild and cultivated, 
about Aurelia, in France. 
10. P. c. nivalis (P. nivalis, De Candolle.) Snowy-leaved Pear-tree, with 
leaves oval, entire, obtuse, white and silky beneath; corymbs terminal; fruit 
globose, very acid, except when ripe, and beginning to decay, when it becomes 
sweet. It is a native of the Austrian Alps. 
11. P. c. salicifolia (P. solicifolia, De Candolle.) Willow -leaved Pear-tree. 
The buds of this variety are whitely tomentose; the leaves linear-lanceolate, 
acute, entire, hoary, particularly upon the under surface, with their disks three 
times as long as the petioles ; the flowers occur upon short pedicels, disposed in 
corymbs. It is a native of Siberia, Caucasus, and Persia, and is generally 
accompanied by the Crataegus oxycantha, and Primus spinosa. 
12. P. c\ amygdaliformis, (P. amy gdaliformis ; De Candolle,) Almond-shaped 
Pear-tree, the branches of which are spiny; the buds tomentose; the leaves 
oblong, acute, entire, tomentose all over when young, but glabrous on the upper 
surface when adult, with disks six times longer than the petioles ; the flowers 
occur in corymbs. It grows wild in rough places in Provence, Dauphiny, and 
Languedoc, in France, and when cultivated, forms a tree with a very irregular, 
picturesque head, with many of the side-branches sweeping the ground. 
Geography and History. The common pear-tree is indigenous to Europe, 
western Asia, the Himalayas, and to China ; but not to Africa nor America. It 
is found wild in most of the counties of Britain, as far north as Forfarshire ; on 
the continent of Europe, from Sweden to the Mediterranean; and in Asia, as far 
east as China and Japan. It is always found on a dry soil, and more frequently 
on plains than on hills or mountains ; and solitary, or in small groups, rather 
