2868 



PYRUS 



PYRUS 



lar, subcordate: fls. smaller: fr. globose to slightly 

 turbinate, about H m - diam. ; calyx persistent. 



There are garden forms of P. communis, differing in 

 foliage, as var. trilobata, Hort., Ivs. lobed; var. hetero- 

 phylla, Hort., Ivs. cut; var. variegata, Hort., Ivs. 

 variegated. In Algeria is var. longipes, Henry (P. 

 longipes, Coss. & Dur.), a small tree with few spines: 

 Ivs. with long slender petiole, ovate, acuminate, sub- 

 cordate, about 2 in. long and 1 in. broad: fr. globose, 

 about J^in. diam., the calyx deciduous. In Spain is 

 var. maridna, Willk., a small tree, with ovate Ivs. 

 about 1 in. long, rounded at base, on very long slender 

 petiole: fr. globose, about M m - diam., the calyx per- 

 sistent. 



2. nivalis, Jacq. SNOW PEAK. Tree, without thorns, 

 the shoots grayish pubescent: Ivs. 2-3 in. long, elliptic 

 to oval to obovate-oval, obtuse or short-acute, cuneate 

 at base, entire or toward apex minutely crenulate, 

 gray-pubescent: fls. large, white, showy: fr. small, 

 roundish pyriform, late-ripening, acid, becoming sweet 

 when overripe. Austria, and wild in France and else- 

 where, but probably as an escape. The snow pear is a 

 small tree, with thick shoots that are white- or gray- 

 hairy when young. It is grown in parts of Eu., particu- 

 larly in France, for the making of perry or pear cider, 

 the greater part of such varieties being of this species. 

 By some writers it is considered to be a form of P. 



3276. Pyrus serotina. ( X Ji) 3277. Pyrus ussuriensis. ( X >i) 



communis, and by others to be a hybrid race of P. 

 communis and P. amygdaliformis; Schneider, however, 

 places it as a good species with which he associates other 

 names as synonyms and varieties, and according to his 

 view P. salvifolia, DC. (sage-lvd. pear of the French), 

 is P. nivalis x P. communis. It is not known to be in 

 cult, in this country, but it is to be looked for in arboreta 

 and other collections. Said to be called "snow pear" 

 because the frs. are fit for eating after snow falls. 



The following related species may be expected to appear now and 

 then in trade-lists or in special collections: 



3. P. amygdaliformis, Vill. (P. parvifldra, Desf. P. cuneifdlia, 

 Guss. Probably P. sinaica, Dum.). Shrub or small tree (to 30 ft.), 

 spiny, with lightly tqmentose buds and young branches: Ivs. thick 

 and coriaceous, 1-2 in. long, narrow-elliptic, oblong-lanceolate or 

 oblong-oblanceolate, at apex short-acuminate or rounded-mucron- 

 ate, mostly narrowed or cuneate at base, tomentose when young 

 but becoming nearly or completely glabrous, the petiole short or 

 slender and mostly glabrous, the margin entire or on large Ivs. ser- 

 rulate: fr. nearly globular, Min. diam., green and hard. France to 

 Asia Minor, in mountainous places. B.R. 1484 (as P. nivalis). 

 G.W. 14, p. 286. The names P. Michaiixii, Bosc., P. p&rsica, Pers., 

 and P. oblongifdlia, Spach, probably represent hybrids of this spe- 

 cies with P. nivalis. 



4. P. auricularis, Knoop (P. irregularis, Muenchh. P. 

 Polh&ria, Linn. P. Bottwyleriana, DC. Sorbopyrus auricularis, 

 Schneid.). Regarded as a hybrid of P. communis and Sorbus Aria; 



3278. Pyrus ovoidea. (XH) 



was discovered about 1650 at Bollweiler, in Alsace: it bears very 

 sparingly, and apparently does not come true to seed: to 50 ft., 

 with buds and branchlets tomentose: Ivs. 34 in. long, elliptic, 

 unequal and rounded at base, short-acuminate, irregularly and 

 coarsely sharp-serrate or double-serrate, lower surface pubescent: 

 fls. 5 or more in tomentose clusters, on slender pedicels; calyx-tube 

 and lobes tomentose; styles 2-5: fr. 1 in. diam., pyriform, red* 

 dish yellow, sweet. Now and then planted in botanic gardens and 

 elsewhere. B.R. 1437. L.B.C. 11:1009. P. malifdlia, Hort. (and 

 Spach?) is probably a hybrid of similar or related origin. 



5. P. elaeagrif olia, Pall. (P. nivalis 

 var. elxagrifdlia, Schneid.). Small 

 spiny tree, the young shoots tomen- 

 tose: Ivs. lanceolate to oblong or 

 obovate-lanceolate, entire, usually 

 silky-tomentose, the base mostly 

 tapering and the apex obtuse- 

 mucronate or short-acuminate: fls. 

 small, on densely tomentose pedi- 

 cels: fr. globose^turbinate, glabrous, 

 the calyx persistent. Caucasus, S. 

 Russia. The specific name was first 

 written, by Pallas, elseagrifblia (not 

 elaeagnifolia), because he considered 

 elseagrus to be the proper spelling 

 of the name of the oleaster genus, it 

 having been spelled that way by 

 Dioscorides. Var. Kotschyana, 

 Bpiss. (P. Kotschyana, Boiss. P. 

 nivalis var. Kotschyana, Schneid.), 

 is usually spineless, the Ivs. larger 

 (3 in. long), the fr. globose and 

 larger (about 1 in. diam.). 



6. P. heterophylla, Regel & 

 Schmalh. Small thorny glabrous 

 tree, with very variable foliage, 

 some plants having Ivs. that are 

 entire at the margin, others are slit 

 and almost of thread-like form, but 

 the greater number with forms 

 intermediate between these two ex- 

 tremes, usually ovate in outline, but 

 mostly pinnatifid and the segms. 

 again toothed: fr. nearly globose 



with the ends somewhat flattened, about 1 in. diam. Turkestan. 

 G.C. III. 7:115. 



7. P. Korshinskyi, Litw. Tree, to 20 ft. or more, or a shrub, 

 with branchlets and buds gray-tomentose: Ivs. coriaceous, about 3 

 in. long, lanceolate or ovate-oblong, somewhat tomentose above 

 and beneath, the margins with coarse crenate or double-crenate 

 incurved gland-tipped serratures, the petiole long and tomentose: 

 fr. nearly globose, stout-peduncled, nearly 1 in. diam., with per- 

 sistent calyx. Bokhara, Turkestan. 



8. P. salicif 61ia, Pall. Small tree, often spiny, becoming 30 ft. tall, 

 with gray-tomentose branchlets: Ivs. willow-like, 2-3 in. long, 

 (whence the name), linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, mostly tapering 

 toward both ends, entire or very nearly so, hoary beneath: fls. 

 white, in corymbs, short-pedicelled : fr. round-pyriform, short 

 stemmed, yellower greenish, about Min. diam., the calyx persistent. 

 Caucasus, Armenia. G.C. II. 14:145. G. 34:305. A showy spring- 

 flowering small tree, hardy in the northern states, and worthy of 

 being better known. Var. pendula, Hort., has drooping branches. 

 G. 22:649. P. canGscens, Spach, is perhaps a form or hybrid of 

 P. salicifolia: Ivs. lanceolate or narrow-elliptic, about 2 Yi in. long, 

 at apex acute or mucronate, minutely crenulate, sometimes twisted, 

 tomentose. 



AA. The oriental or Chino-J apanese pears, grown in 

 this country to some extent for ornament and fr., 

 and producing hybrids with P. communis: Ivs. 

 mostly markedly acuminate and very sharp-ser- 

 rate or setose-serrate: calyx usually falling from 

 the apex of the fr. in the cult, forms (not so in P. 

 ussuriensis and P. ovoidea). 

 (See Rehder, Synopsis of the 

 Chinese Species of Pyrus, Proc. 

 Amer. Acad. Arts and Sci. 

 50:225-40; also Plantse Wil- 

 sonianae, 2:263-6.) 



9. ser6tina, Rehd. Fig. 3276. 

 Tree, 20-50 ft., the branchlets gla- 

 brous or becoming so: Ivs. ovate- 

 oblong or seldom ovate, 3-5 in. long, 

 rounded at base and rarely subcor- 

 date or cuneate, long-acuminate, 

 strongly and sharply setose-serrate, 

 with partially appressed serratures, 

 when young villous or beneath cob- 

 webby but becoming glabrous: inn. 

 umbellate-racemose, 6-9-fld., gla- 

 brous or somewhat tomentose, the 3279. Pyrus Lindleyi. 

 pedicels slender : fls. white ; sepals or ( X M) 



