IDENTIFICATION OF PEAR \'ARIETIES 17 



to irreg-ular as in Ovid; indistinct as in Ovid to distinct and prominent as in 

 Bantam. Not all pear leaves have clearly visible serrations although all varieties 

 discussed here have some serrated leaves. But certain varieties such as Bosc, 

 Cope's Seedless and Willard have numerous leaves with entire margins. These 

 are usually the older leaves located near the base of shoots or on two-year wood. 

 On the other hand, the leaf margins of Covert are consistently more entire than 

 those of any other variet\-. 



Normal fall defoliation is not a particularl} valuable character, but the be- 

 haviour of Bantam indicates its limited usefulness. With this variet\- natural 

 shedding of the leaves takes place relativeh' earl\'. 



Leaf pose is a term used to describe the general position taken b\- the leaxes. 

 It is determined largely by the angle of the petiole with the shoot, and the amount 

 of reflexion of the leaf. The amount and t>pe of folding of the blade is also con- 

 cerned. The leaf pose is not described as such although several individual charac- 

 ters which together determine it are described in previous sections. Undoubtedly 

 the leaf pose of a nursery tree is one of the most significant features used in variety 

 identification in the field because it gives to an observer a composite picture of 

 several important plant characters as shown in the illustrations in the ne.\t sec- 

 tion. 



Prominent Characteristics of Pear Varieties with Illustrations* 



The following pages show illustrations of the upper portions — ■ approximately 

 2 feet — of one-year shoot growths of 41 pear varieties as the\- grew in the nursery. 

 Most of the shoots are from one-year trees and are as typical of the variety as 

 could be obtained. 



In connection with the illustrations, some of the prominent characteristics of 

 each variety are listed. These are the characteristics which have been found 

 particularly valuable in variet\- identification in the field, although some of 

 them are more outstanding than others in certain varieties. Also, in many 

 cases, the more complete descriptions in the back part of this bulletin will be 

 found useful and perhaps necessary for positive identification of some varieties. 

 A few unimportant varieties — • Bierschmidt, Elizabeth, Endicott, Hardy, 

 Howell, and Lincoln Coreless — are not illustrated but complete descriptions 

 of them are given. 



*The technical descriptive terms used here are defined and/or illustrated in the section "How 

 Pear Varieties Differ," pages 4-17. 



