6i6 



THE NATURE BOOK 



brown bark is scalv. The twigs are 

 smooth, and of a reddisli brown. There 

 are many dwarf shoots with ringed scars. 

 The buds are small, and protected by 

 scales on which are some whitish hairs. 

 The lca\'es vary in form from a rounded 

 to a long oval. They show distinct 

 serrations along their margin, and have 

 pointed tips. Five or six pairs of strong 

 secondaries branch off from the midrib, 

 and cur\-e forwards, but they soon divide. 

 The flowers grow singly on short stalks, 

 several of which emerge together at the 

 tips of the dw^arf shoots, or spurs, and, 

 spreading outwards, form bunched clusters. 

 The five petals to each flower are pink 

 and white, and witliin the cup formed by 

 these is a circular grouj^ of man\- stamens, 

 each with a creamv vellow head, erect 

 after the second day of opening. The 

 familiar rounded fruit shows always a 



TWIGS (1) OF THE APPLE; (2i OF WILD PEAR 

 SHOWING BUDS AND DWAKF SHOOTS. 



LEAVES OF WILD PEAR. 



distinct depression at the base where the 

 stalk enters, as well as at the top where 

 the calyx is still attached. The firmly 

 coated brown seeds, or " pips," in pairs, 

 are disposed in five separate walled cells, 

 which constitute the Apple's " core." 



THE WILD PE.\R 



This is not a common tree, and is 

 probably often a mere escape from cul- 

 tivation. In comparing it with the Wild 

 Apple the following details may be 

 noted. 



The shape of the tree is usually taller 

 and less spreading. The branching is 

 moie open, and with less entanglement 

 of the twigs. The bark is more distinctly 

 furrowed, and less inclined to flake off in 

 scales. The twigs are a yellowish brown, 

 and are without hairs. The buds are 

 hairless. The leaf margins show only 

 ill-defined serrations. The venation of 

 the leaves is less distinct, the secondaries, 

 though more in number, are weaker and 

 more sinuous, the whole s^'stem breaking 

 up into a more or less complete network 

 of nerves. 



The flowers arc, with rare exceptions, 

 \n\re white. They open alxjut ten days 

 before those of the Apple. They are 

 grouped in more distinct and more open 

 bunches. The many stamens stand erect 

 from about the third or fourth dav after tlie 

 petals have exjxmded, and their tops are a 

 dark purple. The fruit, notwithstanding 

 our famihar use of the term " pear shape " 

 as a descriptive cj)ithet,is frequently round, 

 but it may be readily distinguished by the 

 absence of any depression at its base. 



