THE PEAR 133 
grace that does not belong to the more straggling 
Apple-tree, though the rosy blossoms of the latter 
may be more attractive than the wan bloom of its 
congener. The dwarf shoots or spurs of the Wild 
Pear are generally spinous, and marked with crowded 
ring-scars. The branches spring from the main stem 
in an ascending manner at an angle of less than 
forty-five degrees, afterwards curving outwards and 
downwards. 
The leaves are scattered alternately along the 
young shoots, but crowded together in bunches 
or “fascicles” on the old wood. Country-bred folk 
learn to distinguish at a glance the leaves of the 
Pear from those of the Apple. The leaves of the 
Pear are generally on a longer and more slender 
stalk than those of the Apple, and are consequently 
more pendulous. Speaking only of our wild forms, 
they are also slightly smaller, not exceeding one and 
a half inches in length. They are sometimes heart- 
shaped at the base, and vary in general outline from 
“ ovate,” i.e. broadest near the base, through “ oblong,” 
i.e. with approximately parallel sides and broadest 
across the centre, to “ obovate,” z.¢. broadest near the 
point. On young trees the leaves are often lobed, as 
in the allied Service-trees, and in all cases they are at 
first pubescent, at least on the under surface. They 
vary, however, in different soils, especially on the 
Continent, where those of several of the mountain 
forms are as white on their under surfaces as those 
of the White Beam (P. A’ria L.), and the form is 
sufficiently variable to acquire such names as 
“Willow-leaved” and “Sage-leaved” for some of 
