Pyrus communis

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Read about Pyrus communis in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Pyrus communis, Linn. Common Pear. Figs. 3275; also Figs. 2805 and others, p. 2505 and following. Strong upright tree, living to a great age and sometimes attaining a height of 75 ft. and a girth of 15 ft. and more, the lvs. on short spurs as well as on the axial growths, the pedicels and sometimes the young growth pubescent, but all parts becoming glabrous: lvs. mostly oblong-ovate, with a prominent point, hard in texture and veiny, bright green, the serratures small and much appressed and obtuse, or sometimes the lf. is almost entire: fls. 4-12 in umbel-like clusters on slender (2-3-in.) pedicels, white, appearing with the lvs.; calyx persistent, or rarely deciduous; stamens 15-20: fr. very various under cult., usually tapering to the st., the flesh generally with gritty concretions. Native to S. Eu. and Asia, where it has been cult. from the earliest times.—Probably indigenous as far east as Kashmir. In the Syrio-Persian region are several very distinct pyruses of the pear group, a number of which may be outlying forms of P. communis. In the wild in Eu., various thorny and small-fruited forms are known. Var. Pyraster, Linn. Much like the type of P. communis, but the fr. globose: lvs. more rounded, strongly serrate, glabrous when young: usually thorny. Probably a wilding form. Var. sativa, DC. The cult. pear, in many pomological forms, the tree large and free-growing and without thorns: lvs. large. Var. cordata, Hook. f. (P. cordata, Desv.). A spiny shrub, wild in England and France: lvs. smaller than in the type (about 1 in. broad), ovate or nearly orbicular, subcordate: fls. smaller: fr. globose to slightly turbinate, about 1/2in. diam.:calyx persistent. There are garden forms of P. communis, differing in foliage, as var. trilobate, Hort., lvs. lobed; var. hetero- phylla, Hort.. lvs. cut; var. variegata, Hort., lvs. variegated. In Algeria is var. longipes, Henry (P.longipes. Cons. & Dur.), a small tree with few spines: lvs. with long slender petiole, ovate, acuminate, subcordate, about 2 in. long and 1 in. broad: fr. globose, about 1/2in diam., the calyx deciduous. In Spain is var. mariana, Willk., a small tree, with ovate lvs. about 1 in. long, rounded at base, on very long slender petiole: fr. globose, about 1/2in. diam., the calyx persistent. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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