﻿(in.) 



PY'RUS* *. 



Linnean Class and Order. Icosa'ndria f, Pentagy'nia*. 



Natural Order. Poma'cete, Lindl. in Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. xiii. 

 p. 88 ; Syn. p. 103 ; Intr. to Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 83. — Rosa'ce ve; 

 tribe, Poma'cea:, Juss. Gen. PL p. 334. — Sm. Gram, of Bot. pp. 

 171 & 172. — Rich, by Macgilliv. pp. 528 & 530. — Loud. Hort. 

 Brit. pp. 512 & 513. — Rosales ; sect. Rosina: ; type, Pyriana: ; 

 subt. Pyrida:, Burnett’s Outl. of Bot. pp. 614, 683,693, & 695. 



Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) superior, of 1 sepal, concave, deeply 

 divided into 5 spreading, mostly permanent segments. Corolla of 

 5 roundish, concave petals, much larger than the calyx, and arising 

 from its rim. Filaments (fig. 1.) 20, inserted on the rim of the 

 calyx within the petals, awl-shaped, shorter than the corolla. 

 Anthers oblong, of 2 lobes. Germen inferior, roundish. Styles 

 from 2 or 3 to 5, thread-shaped, about the length of the stamens. 

 Stigmas simple, or bluntish. Fruit (fig. 2.) roundish, or somewhat 

 oblong, umbilicated, fleshy, of as many cartilaginous or membra- 

 nous, bivalve cells as there are styles. Seeds 2 in each cell, up- 

 right, inversely egg-shaped, flattened at one side. 



Distinguished from other genera in the same class and order, bv 

 the superior, 5-cleft calyx ; 5 petals ; and fruit with from 2 to 5 

 membranous 2-valved cells, with 2 seeds in each. 



Gertner first united the Linnean Genera, Py'rus and Sorbus, 

 including Cydonia (the Quince). The cells of the fruit in Pyrus 

 vary, even in one species, the common Pear, from cartilaginous to 

 membranous, and gradations in texture from one species to another 

 are so insensible, that they baffle all generic distinction. The bony 

 cells of Mespilus, each of one piece, and not splitting asunder, per- 

 haps sufficiently mark that genus. Sir. J. E. Smith. 



Seven species British. 



PY'RUS TORMINA'LIS §. Wild Service-tree, or Sorb. 



Spec. Char. Leaves simple, egg-shaped or heart-shaped, ser- 

 rated, 7-lobed ; the lower lobes spreading. Flower-stalks corym- 

 bose, branched. 



Sm. FI. Brit. v. ii. p. 532. Eng. FI. v. ii. p. 362. — With. (7th ed.) v. iii. p. 

 603. — Lind. Syn. p. 105. — Hook. Brit. FI. p.222. — Relli. FI. Cant. (3rd ed.) p. 

 198. — FI. Devon, pp. 83 & 170. — Walk. FI. of Oxf. p. 136. — Don’s Gen. Syst. 

 of Card, and Bot. v. ii. p. 647. — Perry’s PI. Varvic. Select®, p. 43. — Bab. FI. 

 Bath, p. 16. — Cratcegus torminalis, Linn. Sp. PI. p.68l. — Eng. Bot. t. 298. — ■ 

 Huds. Fl. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 214. — Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 565. — Hunt. 



Fig. 1. Calyx, Stamens, and Pistils. — Fig. 2. A Fruit or Apple. — Fig. 3. A 

 transverse section of the same, showing the Cells. 



* From the Celtic peren, a pear. In Greek apios, from apt, Celtic ; whence 

 apple in English, appel, German ; abhal pradhaugh in Gaelic. Dr. Hooker. 



•f See Primus cerastes, folio 100. 



t In this order of the class Icosandria, Sir J. E. Smith has included all such 

 plants of that class as have from 2 to 5 styles, and occasionally, from accidental 

 luxuriance only, 1 or 2 more. 



$ From tormina, gripings ; from the griping pains it produces in the bowels 

 when eaten before the fruit has been touched by the frost, after which it becomes 

 more wholesome. Professor Burnett. 



