172 Rosacecz Pyrus. 



cymes. Fruit fleshy, 2- to 5-celled, cells 1- or 2-seeded, carti- 

 laginous. Between thirty and forty 

 species are known, all of temperate and 

 cold regions of the northern hemisphere. 

 It is the Latin name of the Pear Tree. 

 The Apple, Pear, Medlar, Service and 

 Quince are all referred to this genus 

 by some botanists. Some of the species 

 are highly ornamental, and even the 

 Apple and Pear trees may be classed 

 in this category. 



1. P. spectdbilis. Chinese Crab 

 (fig. 93). This is the handsomest of 

 this section, and very conspicuous in 

 Spring from the abundance of its rosy 

 pink or nearly white flowers. Leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate or elliptical, finely 

 serrated, acute, glabrous above, 

 slightly hairy beneath, veins promi- 

 nent, petiole slender, stipules small. 

 Fig. 93. pyrus spectawiis. Fruit spherical, about an inch in dia- 

 (j nat. size.) meter, on long slender peduncles. A 



native of China. There are several varieties, that called flori- 

 bunda being perhaps the best. Alba plena has double white 

 flowers ; and there are two or three Japanese varieties of weep- 

 ing habit. P. Sinensis of gardens is the same thing. 



2. P. prunifolia. Siberian Crab. A very ornamental 

 tree of small dimensions. Leaves oblong, obovate, or nearly 

 rotundate, serrate, often oblique at the base, glabrescent ; 

 petioles relatively long. Fruit depressed at the base, on long 

 slender peduncles, and crowned by the persistent calyx-lobes. 

 There are several handsome varieties, differing in the size and 

 colour of the fruit, from scarlet and yellow to green and 

 variously striped. 



3. P. coronaria. American Crab. A small tree with oval 

 or ovate leaves rounded at the base, irregularly toothed or 

 lobed, and ultimately glabrous. Flowers corymbose, pink 

 and white, rather large and fragrant ; petals distinctly clawed. 

 Fruit small, green, concave at the base. North America. 



4. P. baccata, including P. cerasifera. Cherry Crab. This 

 differs in its varieties from the Siberian Crab in the very 

 glabrous glossy leaves and usually smaller fruit, from which 



