66 FAMILIAR TREES 
algo is P. rotundifolia Bechst. and presumably the 
variety described by Mr. N. E. Brown under the name 
decipiens. P. min‘ima Ley, from Brecon, and P. 
interme'dia Ehbrh., from Arran, Wales and the West of 
England, may also be classed with P. Aria taken in 
a comprehensive sense. PP. fen'nica Bab. may be a 
hybrid between the last-mentioned and the Mountain 
Ash; and P. pinnatifida Ehrh., chiefly known in 
cultivation, is also possibly the result of the crossing of 
some form of White Beam with the Rowan. We may, 
therefore, defer the consideration of these. P. domes’- 
tica Ehrh., the True Service-tree, is a very distinct 
species ; but, though common on the Continent, has 
no claim to rank as British. It was long represented 
by a single tree, and that probably introduced, in 
Wyre Forest, near Bewdley, in Worcestershire. The 
Wild Service-tree (P. torminalis Ehrh.) also occurs 
in the same locality, and both trees seem to be known 
there as “ Whitty Pear,” a name more appropriate to 
P. domestica, seeing that it only has a whitish under- 
surface to its leaves and a truly pear-shaped fruit. An 
attempt has been made to derive the name from the 
Old English word “ witten,” to know, meaning the 
wise tree, as there was formerly a belief in these trees 
and in the Rowan as protections against witches. 
The hard little fruits were hung up for this purpose 
in houses; but in Worcestershire the Rowan was 
distinguished as the Witchen tree and considered 
the less efficacious of the two. 
The true Service-tree, known in France as 
cormier, grows from twenty to sixty feet high, and, 
contrary to statements which have been made, is 
