6o 



BRITISH FLORA 



are pink, the stamens long-. The fruit is scarlet. 

 The plant is tall, flowering: in May and June, and 

 is a deciduous tree. 



Pyrus scandica, E. & H., non Aschers. This 

 species is only found in two vice-counties. Mr. 

 Druce in his Oxford list unites P. scandica, As- 

 chers, with P. intermedia, Ehrh. The late Rev. 

 A. Ley regards the Arran plant with broader 

 leaves and larger fruit, from the west of England, 

 as distinct from the Arran plant (P. scandica, 

 Syme, Sorbus scandica, Fries) and P. scandica, 

 Aschers. This name is retained in the last roth 

 edition (1908) of the London Catalogue. The P. 

 scandica, E. & H., Mr. Druce places as a variety 

 of P. intermedia, Ehrh. It differs from the latter 

 as defined by Mr. Druce in the leaves being less 

 narrowed, almost rounded at the base, deeply 

 lobed, with numerous sharp teeth, and 6-8 pairs 

 of leaves. The fruit is large. 



Pyrus semipinnata, Roth. This plant is found 

 in seven vice-counties, but is as a whole doubtful. 

 The plant resembles P. fennica, Bab. = P. pinna- 

 tifida, Ehrh., having oblong, lance-shaped leaves, 

 bluntly lobed, pinnate below. The habitat is 

 shrubberies. 



Pyrus cordata, Desv. = Briggsii, Syme. The 

 habitat of this plant is woods and hedges. The 

 plant has the tree habit. The leaves are heart- 

 shaped, egg-shaped, with a round base, nearly 

 hairless. The flowers are white. The fruit is 

 very small, pear-shaped or rounded. The plant 

 is 10-22 ft. in height, and flowers from April to 

 June, being a small deciduous tree. 



Wild Pear (Pyrus communis, L.). The habitat 

 of this plant is woods, thickets, and hedges. It 

 has the tree habit. The branches bear spines, 

 and are pendulous. The leaves are in groups on 

 the last year's wood. They are alternate, elliptic, 

 oblong, egg-shaped, toothed, sometimes inversely 

 egg-shaped, and narrowed to an acute point, 

 downy below, and lobed when young, then smooth. 

 The leaf-stalk is slender. The flowers are white, 

 in a simple cyme or corymb, the style is distinct, 

 the ovary woolly, the fruit long, pear-shaped, the 

 base inversely conical. The plant is 20-40 ft. in 

 height, flowering from April to May, and is a 

 deciduous shrub or small tree. 



Wild Service (Pyrus torminalis, Ehrh.). The 

 habitat of this plant is woods, hedges, in the south 

 especially. The Wild Service has the tree habit. 

 The branches and young leaves are downy below. 

 The leaves are egg-shaped, heart-shaped, oblong, 

 6-io-lobed, smooth, the lobes triangular, toothed, 

 the lower lobes larger and spreading, with a long 

 narrow point. The numerous flowers in compound 

 corymbose cymes are white. There are two car- 

 pels. The fruit is oval, pear-shaped or nearly 

 round, and greenish-brown, 2-celled, spotted or 

 dotted, acid. The plant is a small tree, 10-30 ft., 

 flowering in April and May, and is a deciduous 

 tree, attaining a large girth when full-grown. 



Medlar (Pyrus germanica, Hook., fil.). The 

 habitat of this plant is thickets and hedges. The 

 Medlar has the tree habit. The stem is much- 

 branched, bearing spines when wild. The leaves 



are lance -shaped, simple, entire, downy below, 

 inversely egg-shaped or oblong, rarely simply 

 or doubly toothed. The flowers are white, on 

 short flower-stalks, solitary. The calyx is downy, 

 the persistent lobes having enlarged, leafy tips. 

 There are 5 styles. The fruit is rounded, large, 

 with a bony endocarp, 5-celled, the cells seeded, 

 with a large flattened area at the top. The plant 

 is a fairly tall tree, flowering in May and June, 

 and is deciduous. 



ORDER RIBESIACE^E 



Gooseberry (Ribes Grossularia, L.). The habi- 

 tat of this plant is copses. The habit is of the 

 bush or shrub type. The plant is spreading, the 

 stem and branches prickly, with 1-3 thorns at the 

 base of the branches. The leaves are plaited 

 in the bud. They are rounded, 3~5-lobed, the 

 margin cut, scalloped, smooth or hairy, grouped 

 on short, lateral branches. The flowers are 

 green, drooping, the flower-stalk short, downy, 

 3 -flowered, having 2 bracts below. The calyx 

 is bell-shaped, with turned-back, purplish sepals, 

 which are inversely egg-shaped, and round petals, 

 erect, and small. The fruit in the wild form is 

 smooth, stiffly hairy in the cultivated one. The 

 plant is 2-4 ft. in height, and flowers in April and 

 May, being a deciduous shrub. 



Alpine Currant (Ribes alpinum, L.). The habi- 

 tat of the plant is woods in the N.E. The branches 

 do not bear spines. The leaves are smooth or 

 with a few hairs, with 3 acute, deeply-toothed 

 lobes, shining below, egg-shaped, the leaf-stalk 

 slender. The plant is dioecious. The flowers 

 are in erect, glandular, hairy racemes, the larger 

 male flowers in a dense raceme, 20-30 flowers, 

 the female short, 8-10, the flowers yellow, the 

 female greener. The bracts are linear, and longer 

 than the flower-stalks, lance-shaped. The petals 

 are shorter than the sepals, the calyx smooth, and 

 the limb flat. The berry is round, scarlet, insipid. 

 The styles are short and cleft. The plant is 2-4 

 ft. in height, flowering in April and May, and is a 

 deciduous shrub. 



Red Currant (Ribes rubrum, L.). The habitat 

 of this plant is woods, thickets, brushwood, stream 

 sides, &c. The habit is the bush or shrub habit. 

 The leaves are 3~5-angled, blunt, smooth, the 

 leaf-base heart-shaped, the lobes triangular, 

 scalloped, the leaf-stalk downy or bristly. The 

 flowers are in smooth, glandular racemes, droop- 

 ing in fruit, with egg-shaped bracts less than the 

 flower-stalks. The calyx is smooth, with a flat 

 limb. The greenish-yellow flowers are numerous. 

 The petals are small. The fruit is red and acid. 

 The plant is 3-5 ft. in height, flowering in April 

 and May, and is a deciduous shrub. 



Black Currant (Ribes nigrum, L.). The habitat 

 of this plant is woods, thickets, damp swampy 

 places. The habit is the shrub habit. The stem 

 is not spinous. The leaves are odorous, glan- 

 dular, dotted below, angled, 5-7-lobed, the lobes 

 acute, triangular, toothed. The leaf-stalk is slender, 

 downy. The flowers are yellowish-green, in droop- 



