484 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



PEAR 



Pyrus communis L. 



HABIT A tree sometimes 75 ft. in height with a trunk diameter of 

 2 ft. or more; trunk erect, more or less continuous into the head, with 

 ascending branches and numerous stubby branchlets forming an upright 

 pyramidal head. 



DARK Grayish-brown, on young trunks and branches smooth becom- 

 ing with age longitudinally fissured into flat-topped ridges which are 

 further broken by transverse fissures into oblong scales. 



TAVIGS Stout, smooth or but slightly downy, yellowish-green or 

 sometimes with tinge of brown, without characteristic taste; short 

 sharp-pointed branches not infrequently present; stubby, branched 

 slow-growing fruit spurs abundant, with prominent fruit scars. LEN- 

 TICELS scattered, pale, more or less conspicuous. 



LEAF-SCARS Alternate, more than 2-ranked, narrow, crescent- 

 shaped, raised. STIPULE-SCARS absent. BUNDLE-SCARS 3, often 

 indistinct. 



DUDS Conical, sharp-pointed, smooth or but slightly hairy; terminal 

 bud about 8 mm. or less in length, lateral buds smaller, generally 

 divergent and not flattened or at times on vigorous shoots both flattened 

 and appressed. BUD-SCALES ovate, generally with conspicuous grayish 

 skin on surface, generally 4 or more visible scales to lateral buds, more 

 to terminal bud. 



FRUIT A large fleshy pome. 



COMPARISONS The Pear Tree may be distinguished from the Apple 

 by its erect habit of growth. The twig characters vary somewhat 

 among the different varieties but in general the twigs of the Pear 

 differ from those of the Apple in being smooth, generally of a yellow- 

 ish-green color, devoid of a licorice-like taste and in having pointed, 

 mostly divergent buds the scales of which are more or less covered 

 with a grayish skin. 



DISTRIDUTION A native of the Old World cultivated in this country 

 for its fruit and escaped from cultivation in waste places. 



WOOD Hard, close-grained, reddish-brown; used for drawing instru- 

 ments, for tools, in imitation of ebony and by the wood engraver. 



