PYRUS, PEAR TREE. 219 



The buds are big, broad at the base, and almost flat. Their stems are thick and 

 somewhat enlarged above the eye. 



The leaves are small, two inches nine lignes long and twenty-one lignes wide. 

 Some have almost smooth margins, others are finely & quite deeply denticulate. The 

 central vein curves downward. The petioles are about seven or eight lignes long. 



The flowers are seventeen lignes in diameter. The petals are rounded and almost 

 flat. The tips of the stamens are a mixture of purple & white. Many of the flowers have 

 six or seven petals. 



The fruit is medium-sized, twenty-seven lignes in diameter by thirty-three lignes 

 high. These dimensions often are smaller. It's long and looks more like the quince pear 

 than the winter Bartlett pear. Sometimes it's quite short and pear-shaped. Very often it 

 tends to be shaped somewhat like a gourd. It usually becomes smaller at the top where 

 there's an indentation with ridges around the edge. The eye, average in size, is situated at 

 the bottom. The other end abruptly diminishes in size & it's very blunt at the end. The 

 stalk is thick, fifteen lignes long, and inserts into a cavity bordered by bumps. The entire 

 fruit often is marked with bumps & small ridges; at times it's slightly angular at the top. 



Its skin is smooth, yellow, and streaked with red where it had been struck by the 

 sun. 



Its flesh is white, scattered with greenish spots, and crisp. 



The juice is a little sweet, very musky and flavorful, with no tartness. 



The seeds are small & brown. 



This pear ripens at the end of August. It's a good fruit & a very beautiful one, but 

 it's apt to split open or to crack before it matures. 



