THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 79 
by the United States Department of Agriculture, says that it is affected 
but slightly by leaf-blight, holds its foliage well in hot summers, and has 
a long budding season. These statements indicate that it is worth trying 
as a stock. 
7. PRYUS BETULZFOLIA Bunge 
P. betulefolia Bunge Mem. Sav. Etr. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb. 22101. 1833. 
Decaisne Jard. Fruit. 1:20. 1872. 
Carriére Rev. Hort. 318. 1879. figs. 68, 69. 
4. Sargent Gard. & For. 7:224. 1894. fig. 39. 
Vs 
Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, open-topped, hardy; trunk stocky, shaggy, 
and rough; branches thick, dull brownish-red, thickly coated with gray scarf-skin, sprinkled 
with numerous small, raised lenticels; branchlets slender, willowy, long, with long inter- 
nodes, dull reddish-brown, with gray scarf-skin, heavily pubescent, with small, conspicuous, 
raised lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short, flattened, pointed, free. Leaves 4 in. long, 24 
in. wide, thick, stiff; apex taper-pointed; margin sharply and coarsely serrate; teeth 
tipped with small, reddish-brown glands; petiole 12 in. long, slender, pubescent, tinged 
red. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free, arranged singly on long spurs; flowers 
open late, with a rather unpleasant odor, showy, 17° in. across, white, in dense clusters, 
13 buds in a cluster; pedicels 14°s in. long, slender, pubescent, pale green; calyx-tube 
pale green mingled with white pubescence, dark greenish-yellow within, campanulate, 
thickly pubescent; calyx-lobes greenish within and with white pubescence, short, narrow, 
acuminate, tipped with very small, sharp, reddish-brown glands, heavily pubescent within 
and without, reflexed; petals separated at the base but with meeting cheeks, round-oval, 
entire, with short, narrow claws, white at the base; anthers deep pinkish-red; filaments 
short, shorter than the petals; styles 2 to 3; pistils glabrous, usually as long as the stamens; 
stigma very small. Fruit russet, heavily dotted, the size of a small grape; calyx deciduous; 
pears hanging until the following spring. 
The above description was made from a plant grown from seed obtained 
from the Arnold Arboretum in 1900, that institution having obtained the 
species from the mountains near Peking in 1882. This pear has been 
collected by various explorers in the regions about Peking, especially to 
the north and east, and is not uncommon in these parts of China. The 
small pears are without value for food, but the trees are promising stocks. 
While Reimer reports the species as susceptible to fire-blight in Oregon, 
it has not proved particularly so on the grounds of this Station nor else- 
where in the East. The seedlings are also free from leaf-blight. The 
young plants grow vigorously from seed or cuttings; are capable of being 
budded throughout a long season; they make a good union with other pears 
in China according to Reimer; and the variety is so common in China 
that there is little difficulty in getting seed true to name. The tree is a 
handsome ornamental. 
