PY'RUS PRUNIFO'LlA. 
PLUM-LEAVED SIBERIAN CRAB. 
Class. Order. 
ICOSANDRIA. DI-PKNTAGYNIA 
Natural Order. 
POMACE.*. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Habit. 
Introduced 
Siberia. 
30 feet. 
May. 
Tree. 
in 1758. 
No. 1129. 
Some difference of opinion has arisen respecting 
the origin of the word Pyrus. The most satisfac- 
tory is that of De Theis, who says that from the 
Celtic peren, originated the Anglo Saxon pere, 
the French poire, the English pear, and the sys- 
tematic name pyrus. 
There are occasionally to be met with in English 
gardens two very distinct and different trees, each 
of which is called a Siberian Crab-tree. Their 
fruit, too, is equally distinct ; the one, Pyrus pra- 
nifolia, with a persistent calyx, as in our present 
plate ; the other, Pyrus baccata, with a longer stalk, 
its calyx obliterated, leaving the fruit much resem- 
bling a Cherry. In Loudon's Arboretum another 
is mentioned, called Bigg’s Everlasting Crab, which 
. was raised in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, in 
1814, from seed received from Siberia, possessing 
a character intermediate between the two preceding 
sorts. It is said to have pendulous branches, and 
to be a most abundant bearer. 
All may be propagated by grafting them on stocks 
of the common English Crab; and their hardy 
nature fits them for any situation. 
283 . 
