288 



MALACEAE. 



Vol. II. 



I. Pyrus communis L. Pear. Choke Pear. Fig. 2320. 



Pyrus communis L. Sp. PI. 479. 1753. 



A tree, sometimes 60° high and with a trunk 

 2°-3° in diameter, commonly much smaller, the 

 branches usually thorny. Leaves ovate, elliptic 

 or obovate, finely serrulate or entire, slender- 

 petioled, li's' long, downy and ciliate when 

 young, becoming glabrous or nearly so when old, 

 the apex acute or acuminate, the base usually 

 rounded ; petioles sometimes as long as the blades 

 or longer ; cymes few-several-flowered, borne at 

 the ends of short twigs of the preceding year; 

 pedicels 9"-2' long, at first downy; flowers white, 

 1-2' broad; calyx-lobes about as long as the 

 tube; styles distinct to the base; pome, in the 

 wild form, seldom over 2' long, in the numerous 

 cultivated forms often much larger. 



In thickets and woods, Maine to New York, New 

 Jersey and Pennsylvania, escaped from cultivation. 

 Native of Europe and Asia. Wood hard, fine-grained, 

 reddish-brown; weight per cubic foot 51 lbs. April- 

 May. 



3. MALUS Mill. Card. Diet. Abr. Ed. 4. 1754. 



Trees or shrubs, with alternate toothed or lobed leaves, and showy pink or white flowers 

 in simple terminal cymes. Calyx-tube urn-shaped or campanulate, 5-lobed. Hypanthium 

 open, not closed by a cushion; Petals 5. rounded, clawed. Styles 2-5 (usually 5), united at 

 the base; ovules 2 in each cavity, carpels papery or leathery. Fruit a pome, usually depressed- 

 globose, mostly hollowed at the base, but sometimes rounded, its flesh not containing grit- 

 cells. [Greek, apple.] 



About 15 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, another occurs 

 in northwestern America. Type species : Pyrus Mains L. 



Leaves glabrous, at least when mature. 



Leaves ovate-lanceolate to oblong, narrowed at the base. 

 Leaves obtusish or acute. 

 Leaves acuminate. 

 Leaves ovate, cordate or rounded at the base. 

 Leaves persistently pubescent or tomentose beneath. 



Leaves mostly narrowed at the base ; pome I'-i 54' in diameter. 

 Leaves rounded or subcordate at the base ; pome 2'-4' in diameter. 



1. M. coronaria. 



2. M. baccata. 



3. M. glaucescens. 



4. M. ioensis. 



5. M.Malus. 



I. Malus coronaria (L.) Mill. Narrow- 

 leaved Crab Apple. Fig. 2321. 



Pyrus coronaria L. Sp. PI. 480. 1753. 

 Malus coronaria Mill. Gard. Diet. Ed. 8, no. 2. 1768. 

 Pyrus angustifolia Ait. Hort. Kew. 2: 176. 1789. 

 Malus angustifolia Michx. Fh Bor. Am. i : 292. 1803. 

 Malus lancifolia Rehder, Trees & Shrubs 2: 141. 1911, 



A small tree, sometimes 20° high and the trunk 

 10' in diameter. Leaves oblong, oblong-lanceolate 

 or oval, thick, shining and dark green above, gla- 

 brous when mature, sometimes pubescent beneath 

 when young, dentate or often entire, or those of 

 sterile shoots often lobed, obtusish or acute at the 

 apex, narrowed at the base, i'-2' long; cymes few- 

 flowered; pedicels I'-i^' long, slender ; flowers pink, 

 fragrant, mostly less than i' broad; styles nearly 

 separate ; calyx-lobes early deciduous ; pome about 

 i' in diameter, yellowish, hard. 



In thickets. New Jersey to Illinois and Missouri, 

 south to Florida and Louisiana. Recorded from Kan- 

 sas. Wood hard, reddish brown ; weight per cubic foot 

 43 lbs. Crab-apple or -tree. Wild crab. Southern wild 

 crab. March-May. 



