1562 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



small globose fruit, about J in. in diameter, from the summit of which the calyx 

 ultimately falls off completely. It is a native of the borders of mountain streams 

 in Algeria. A tree at Kew, about 25 ft. high, was obtained from Decaisne in 1875. 



5. Var. Mariana, Willkomm, in Linncea, xxv. 25 (1852). 

 Pyrus Bourgaana, Decaisne, Jardin Fruitier, i. t. 2 (187 1). 



A small tree. Leaves ovate, about an inch in length, rounded at the base, 

 on very long slender petioles. Fruit globose, about \ in. in diameter, with a 

 persistent calyx. This is a little-known variety, which occurs in the Sierra Morena 

 in Spain. 



6. Pyrus auricularis, Knoop, Porno/, ii. 38 (1763). 



Pyrus irregularis, Muenchhausen, Hausvater, v. 246 (1770). 

 Pyrus Pollveria, Linnaeus, Mant. ii. 244 (1771). 



Pyrus Bollwyleriana, De Candolle, Fl. France, Suppl. v. 530 (1815); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. 

 ii. 890 (1838). 



A tree, attaining about 50 ft. in height. Branchlets and buds tomentose. 

 Leaves, 3 to 4 in. long, 1 to 2 in. broad, elliptic, rounded, and unequal at the 

 base, shortly acuminate at the apex ; margin irregularly, coarsely, and sharply serrate 

 or biserrate ; upper surface shining green, glabrescent, with glands on the midrib ; 

 lower surface more or less covered with greyish tomentum ; petiole f to \\ in. 

 long, grey tomentose. Flowers five to twenty, in tomentose corymbs : sepals 

 tomentose on both surfaces ; styles two to five, united and tomentose at the base. 

 Fruit pyriform, 1 in. in diameter, reddish yellow, sweet to the taste. 



This tree, which is a hybrid between P. communis and P. Aria, was first 

 noticed at Bollweiler in Alsace, about 1650, when it was described by Bauhin. 1 

 It apparently does not come true from seed; and one of the seedlings, which is 

 nearer to P. communis, has been named var. bulbiformis, Tartar. 2 P. auricularis 

 was introduced in 1786, and is occasionally seen in botanic gardens. A large tree 

 of it was cut down in Kew Gardens some years ago, of which a board a foot wide 

 is now in the Cambridge Forestry Museum. There is a fine specimen at Arley 

 Castle, which measured 59 ft. by 4 ft. 5 in. in 1904. Elwes saw an old tree, 43 ft. 

 high, with a short bole, near the house at Beauport, Sussex, in 191 1. It bears fruit 

 very sparingly, scarcely any being produced in some seasons. 



Distribution 



There is no agreement amongst botanists as to the distribution of the common 

 pear, which has long been in cultivation in Europe. In many places, where it is 

 now apparently wild, it is probably only an escape from orchards. It occurs either 

 wild or naturalised throughout the greater part of Europe, northern Africa, Asia 

 Minor, the Caucasus, and north Persia. According to Willkomm, it is not met with 

 in the greater part of Scandinavia, in Finland, northern Russia, Esthonia, Livland, 

 and the provinces east of the Volga ; but it is wild in the ash forests of the Ukraine, 

 and in the mountains of the Crimea. In Germany, it is rare and only naturalised 



1 Hist. Plant, i. 59 (1650). * Wien. Oitt. u. Garttm., 1878, p. 26, fig. 8. 



