164 ROSACEA. [Pyrus. 



fascicles of 3, 5, or 6 together, broadly ovato-elliptical or nearly orbicular, finely, 

 unevenly and sharply serrated, bright shining green above, turning black in dry- 

 ing, veiy downy when young, afterwards a little hairy only on the margins 

 and ailing the principal ribs beneath, as also on the upper side of the 

 raiher long-gvooved petioles, at the base of which are a pair of long, fili- 

 funn, caducous stipules. Flowers in corymbuse downy clusters, terminal or on 

 short, leafy, lateral spurs, white, rather unpleasantly scented, about an inch in 

 diameter. Calt/x lomentose, the segments lanceolate, acute and spreading, much 

 shorter than the obovate or roundish entire petals, with short abrupt claws. Sta- 

 mens about 20 ; anthers bright purplish pink, 2-lubed, attached to ihe filaments by 

 a line point on the latter. Stt/les 5, ereci, greenish, contorted : stigmas flat (not 

 acute, as Smith describes) glandular. Fruit 4 or 5 lines in diameter, deep scar- 

 let or purplish red (coccineus) depressed, globose or subovoid, umbilicate and 

 crowned with the flat persistent calyx, smooth, shining, glabrous or downy, mosily 

 1-celled. Seed large, rugose, nearly globular, in the midst of a mealy insipid 

 pulp. 



The var. y. differs in no respect from the common form, except in having fruit 

 of nearly twice the usual size, and of a mure oblong figure, but even in these 

 respects, as well as in the lobing of the leaves, there exists no well-drawn line of 

 demarcation. 



Tlie var. S., which is no doubt the C. eriocarpa of Lindley, was pointed out to 

 me by Mr. W. Wilson, in Pelliam Wood, where it varies extremely in the degree 

 of woolliness of its berries and their stalks, even in one and the same bunch. The 

 leaves, which are nearly smooth, are inclined to be simply trifid rather than 

 5-lobed, but they often assume the ordinary form of the species ; they are also 

 generally inclined to be more deeply incised. 



XIII. Pyeus, Linn. Pear. Service. Apple. 



Calyx of 5 small segments. Petals 5, large, roundish. Styles 

 2 — 5. Fnnt fleshy, with 5 cartilaginous or coriaceous, 2-seeded. 



* Leaves simple, undivided. 



1. P. commw-ms, L. Wild Pear-tree. Iron Pear-tree. "Leaves 

 simple ovate serrated, peduncles corymbose, fruit turbinate, styles 

 distinct."— £?•. Fl. p. 133. E. B. t. 1784. Fl. Ban. xii. t. 2118. 



p. Leaves ovale, very distinctly acuminate. P. commun. var. P. Achras, 

 Gcertn. P 



In woods, thickets and bushy places, here and there sporadically, but appa- 

 rently indigenous ; more frequent in hedges from seeds of the cultivated varieties 

 conveyed by accident. Fl. April, May. Tj. 



E. Med. — In one or two places close to Ryde, in hedges, but from being kept 

 trimmed the plants are not easily seen in ihem. Hedge by Uttle Smallbrook 

 farm, only one specimen, now destroyed. A solitary very thorny bush on the top 

 of the hill by Ameiica. A solitary bush in the hedge on the left a little beyond 

 the Oakfield inn, by Byde ; also another, as a very low stunted bush, on the 

 Dover. Two or three trees in a hedge between Preston farm and Westridge. 

 Near Queen Bower, Mr. Loe, 1843. A very large and old tree in the wood 

 immediately opposite St. John's House, at least 40 feel high, but as it is destitute 

 of thorns it may well be questioned whether the tree may not have originated from 

 seeds of some cultivated pear ; the large size of the leaves tuo .'supports this opi- 

 nion. Between Hyde and Brading, near Whitefieki wood. Dr. Bell-Sailer. 



W. Med.- — A small-leaved thorny bush near Eades's. A tree of 16 or 18 feet 

 high grows in a hedge by a little farm between Medham brickfield and the Half- 

 way house. In Symington copse, a tolerably large flowering tree, as also a young 

 one of the same species. 



jS. A single tree by the roadside from Ryde to Ashey, not seen in flower or 

 fruit. In the grounds at St. John's, a small pyramidal tree, and very thorny. 



