XXVI. ROSA CEH! PY RUS. 431 
778. P. (c.) angustifolia, 
lead-coloured speckled branches. Notwithstanding all these points of dif- 
ference, however, it bears such a general resemblance to P. coronaria, that 
we cannot doubt its being only a variety of it. The fruit is intensely acid, like 
that of P. coronaria ; but it is much narrower and smaller, 
¥ 20. P.sprcta’sitis Ait. The showy-flowering wild Apple Tree, or 
Chinese Crab Tree. 
ducnigieation, Ait. Hort. Kew., 2. p. 175. ; Curt. Bot. Mag., t. 267.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 635. ; Don’s 
Mill., 2. p. 646, 
Synonymes. Malus spectabilis Desf. Arb. 2. p.141., N. Du Ham. 6. p.141.; Malus singnsis Dum. 
Cours. ed. 2. 5. p. 429. 
Engravings. Bot. Mag., t. 267.; N. Du Ham., 6, t. 42. f. 2; the plate of the species in Arb. Brit., 
Ist edit., vol. vi.; and our fig. 779. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves oval-oblong, serrated, smooth. Flowers in sessile 
umbels, many in an umbel ; large, and very elegant; at first of an intense 
rose-colour, but afterwards of a pale one. Tube of calyx smooth. Petals 
ovate, clawed. Styles woolly at the base. (Dec. Prod.) A deciduous 
tree, thickly crowded with upright branches, which at length become spread- 
ing. China. Height 20 ft. to 30 ft. Introduced in 1780. Flowers pink, 
large, showy; April and May. Fruit greenish yellow, and unfit to eat till 
it is in a state of incipient decay. 
This is by far the most showy of all the different species of Pyrus, both of 
this and of the other sections. The flowers are semidouble, and of a pale 
rose-colour; but before they are expanded, the flower buds, which are large, 
appear of a deep red. In this state the tree is extremely beautiful. The 
stamens and pistils are much more numerous than in the other species; the 
former sometimes exceeding 40, and the latter 20. The fruit is small, irregu- 
larly round, angular, and about the size of a cherry: it is of a yellow colour 
when ripe, but is without flavour, and is only fit to eat when in a state of 
incipient decay ; at which period it takes the colour and taste of the medlar. 
No garden, whether large or small, ought to be without this tree, 
