0449 



PEAR TREE 



Family: ROSACEAE. 



Reproductive system: ICOSANDRY, PENTAGYNY. 



The common pear tree, Pyrus communis, Linn., is a medium sized tree with 

 upright limbs and on the wild trees, branches with thorns. The leaves are oval-lanceolate, 

 pointed, smooth, and sometimes toothed. The white flowers form corymbiform clusters. 

 The calyx has five lobes and the corolla five petals. A large number of stamens insert into 

 the calyx. The ovary is surmounted by five separate styles hairy at their base and 

 terminating in five stigmata. The smooth fruit is turbinate, elongated at the peduncle. It 

 has five compartments; each one contains two cartilaginous seeds. 



FLOWERS: in April. 



RANGE: the forests of France, where it first was obtained. Many varieties, 

 obtained by cultivation, are rather distinctive in shape and in flavor. 



NOMENCLATURE: According to M. de Thei's, Pyrus comes from the Celtic word 

 peren. German, birnbaum, birne. English, peartree. Dutch, peereboom. Spanish, elperal. 

 Russian, gruscha. Hungarian, kortvely. Arabic, kummitry. 



USES. Everyone is familiar with the qualities and virtues of a number of varieties 

 of cultivated pears. There are about thirty or forty of them. The rest, numbering more 

 than two hundred, are only for table decoration. Some of them are scarcely any better 

 than wild fruit in the forest. 



The wood of the pear tree is heavy, strong, and has a reddish color. It has a fine 

 grain. It takes on a black stain very well, with the result that it looks so much like ebony 

 that it's hard to tell the difference. It's sought after and highly valued by lathe workers and 

 by cabinet-makers. 



