SPECIES OF PEARS AND THEIR CHARACTERS
The pear belongs to the great order Rosaceae, the Rose Family. There
are about ninety genera in this family, the most important of all
botanical groups to growers of hardy fruits, of which ten or twelve
bear pome-fruits. Of the genera whose fruits are pomes, only two
contain important hardy fruits, namely, Pyrus, to which belong apples,
crab-apples, and pears; and Cydonia, the quince. Three other genera
are of lesser importance, but must be named to show their relationship
to the pear. These are Mespilus, the medlar, grown in Europe but
little known in America; Chænomeles, the Japanese quince, well known
as an ornamental, the fruits of which are used for conserves; and
Amelanchier, the Juneberry, a common fruit in American forests. One
other genus in this family has possibilities for domestication but
is not yet cultivated for its fruits in America. This is Cratægus,
comprising the hawthorns and thorn-apples, the fruits of which are
edible and several species of which are cultivated in various parts of
the world as food plants.
Nearly every botanist who has attempted to classify plants has grouped
the pome-fruits according to a plan of his own. There are, therefore,
several classifications of genera and species of the pomes, in
consequence of which the nomenclature is badly confused. A century ago
the tendency was for botanists to put in the genus Pyrus the apple,
pear, crab-apple, quince, medlar, sorbus, and chokeberry. The modern
tendency is to segregate these fruits in distinct genera in accordance
with common names. As a rule the differences which suggest a distinct
common name suffice for a botanical division.
The pear and apple, however, are usually kept together in Pyrus, and
botanists generally agree that separation in species is sufficient, or,
at most, that the separation should not be greater than in two sections
of the genus. Happily, the difficulties of classification in botany
trouble little or not at all in pomology, as each of the pome-fruits
constitutes a distinct pomological group. The distinguishing characters
of Pyrus are:
Woody plants, trees or shrubs, with smooth or scaly bark. Leaves
simple, or sometimes lobed, alternate, usually serrate, deciduous,
with deciduous stipules which are free from the petiole. Flowers
perfect, regular, borne in compound terminal cymes; torus urn-shaped,
adnate to the ovary and inclosing it with thick, succulent flesh
at maturity; calyx-lobes 5, acuminate and reflexed, persistent in
some and deciduous in other species; petals 5, white, pink or red,
inserted on the thickened border of the disk; stamens 15 to 20, in
three rows; styles 2 to 5, free or united below; carpels 2 to 5,
inferior, crowned by the styles, usually 2-seeded. Fruit an ovoid or
pyriform pome; seeds two in each cell, brown or brownish, lustrous,
mucilaginous on the outer surface.
The genus comprises fifty to sixty species in the north temperate zone
of the three continents. The largest number is found in south-central
and eastern Asia. In North America, Pyrus is represented by five
species, while eight or nine species inhabit Europe. In several of the
species there are many natural varieties. The two sections of Pyrus,
given the rank of genera by some authors, are distinguished as follows:
1. Apples (Malus). Flowers pink, rose-color, red or sometimes white,
borne in fascicles or subumbellate clusters on short spurs or lateral
branchlets; ovary 3- to 5-celled; styles more or less united at the
base. Fruit more or less globular with a distinct depression at both
ends, the flesh without grit cells, rounded at the base. The species
in this section number 30 to 40, of which not more than a half dozen
are domesticated.
2. Pears (Pyrus). Flowers white, few, borne in corymbs on short spurs
or lateral branchlets; ovary 5-celled; styles usually free. Fruit
usually pyriform, sometimes subglobose, usually conical at the base,
the flesh usually bearing grit cells when ripened on the tree. The
species number 15 to 20 of which but two are truly domesticated, but
several others give promise of value for stocks and possibly for their
fruits.
THE STRUCTURAL BOTANY OF THE PEAR
A major purpose in _The Pears of New York_ is to describe varieties
of pears so that their faults and merits can be seen, and that
varieties may be identified. It is apparent at once that one cannot
describe accurately nor understand the descriptions of others unless
acquainted with the organs of tree and fruit--one must know the form
and structure of the whole plant. A study of the organs of plants is
structural botany. Plant descriptions are portraitures of the plant's
organs, and structural botany thus becomes the foundation of systematic
pomology, with a study of which, as concerns the pear, we are to be
chiefly concerned in the following pages. We must, therefore, pay some
attention to the structural botany of the pear. A pear is one of the
pome-fruits. What is a pome?
A pome is variously defined by students of structural botany. The
most conspicuous part of the apple, pear, or quince, the best-known
pome-fruits, is the outer, fleshy, edible part. This succulent part is
said by some botanists to be the thickened calyx; others say that it is
the enlarged receptacle. Some botanists believe that a pome consists
of two to five drupe-like fruits, each drupe called a carpel, each of
which contains one or more seeds. These drupes, if they are rightly
so-named, are held together by a fleshy receptacle. The best definition
seems to be that a pome is a fleshy fruit of which the compound ovary
is borne within and connected to the receptacle.
CHARACTERS OF PEAR-TREES
Pome-fruits are all woody plants, shrubby or tree-like, of which the
pear is always a tree. The value of the variety and the recognition of
it usually depend on characters of the fruits, but the trees are nearly
as distinct as the fruits, are always helpful in identification, and in
the absence of fruit must be relied upon to identify a variety. Also,
and even more important, the pear-grower must know whether the plant is
manageable in the orchard, for which purpose he must have a description
of the chief characters of the tree.
_Size and habit of tree._--Size of tree is a very reliable character
to determine varieties of pears. The Winter Nelis pear is dwarf as
compared with other pears. Size varies greatly with environment, it
must be remembered in using this character. The terms _large_, _small_,
and _medium_ are commonly used to designate size. Vigor, which may be
defined as internal energy, must not be confused with size. Small trees
may be as vigorous as large ones.
The term _habit of growth_, as used by pomologists, has reference
to the form of the top. In describing the tops of pear-trees a
number of self-explanatory terms are used, such as _pyramidal_,
_upright-spreading_, _drooping_, _tall_, _low_, _dense_, _open-topped_,
and _round-topped_. Many if not most varieties of pears may be told
by the form of the top. One can tell Bartlett or Clapp Favorite at a
glance by their upright branches; as one can, also, Beurré d'Anjou and
Beurré Superfin by their wide-spreading branches; or Winter Nelis pear
by its drooping branches. Depending upon the form of the top, a variety
is easy or difficult to manage in an orchard.
_Constitutional characters._--Hardiness, productiveness, susceptibility
to pests, adaptability to diverse soils and climates are vaguely
supposed to be dependent on the constitution of the tree. Pomologists
very generally refer to these characters as constitutional. They speak
of the constitution as the aggregate of the vital powers of a variety.
Horticulturally, hardiness is ability to withstand cold. Obviously,
hardiness is of utmost importance in characterizing the value of a
variety to the pear-grower, and degree of hardiness is of some use in
identifying pears. Bartlett and Beurré Bose are relatively tender to
cold, Tyson is hardy, and Flemish Beauty is very hardy. Less important,
but still of some importance, is the ability to withstand heat, a
character possessed in varying degrees by varieties of pears.
Productiveness, age of bearing, regularity of bearing, certainty of
bearing, and longevity are constitutional characters that must be noted
in full descriptions. All help to determine the value of a variety,
and all aid more or less in classification. For most part, these are
inherent characters and are influenced but little by environment.
The degree of susceptibility of a variety to fungous diseases and
insect pests is a valuable cultural character, but has little use
in identifying or classifying pears. There are great variations in
varieties of pears to the dreaded pear-blight: Bartlett, Beurré Bose,
Beurré d'Anjou, and Clapp Favorite are among the varieties most
susceptible; Kieffer, Seckel, and Winter Nelis are among those least
susceptible to blight. Kieffer and related hybrids are somewhat immune
to San Jose scale, but are very susceptible to psylla. Flemish Beauty
and White Doyenné are so badly attacked by the scab-fungus that it is
almost impossible to grow them in eastern America.
Some of these constitutional characters are much modified by care and
environment, as all are more or less. Care and local environment often
make it possible to grow varieties in special localities, although
some varieties are inherently adapted to a greater number of diverse
conditions than others. Bartlett, Seckel, and Kieffer have in common as
one of their most valuable characters adaptability to a great diversity
of soils and climates.
_Trunk and branch._--The trunk does not count for much in descriptions
of varieties. The height of the trunk usually depends on the whims of
the pruner. Whether _stout_ or _slender_ is sometimes noteworthy. The
bark may be _smooth_ or _shaggy_. Color of bark is often a valuable
diagnostic character, especially in young trees. Many if not most
varieties of pears can be identified in nursery rows by an expert
nurseryman from the color of the bark. Seckel, Sheldon, and Beurré
d'Anjou have remarkably distinctive color as young trees.
The branches of pear-trees are often reliable guides in identifying
varieties in orchard or nursery, especially when trees are leafless
and fruitless. The twisting, drooping branches of Winter Nelis serve
to identify that variety at any time. The zigzag branches of Beurré
d'Anjou and Bloodgood are typical. The branches of Beurré Superfin
are rough and shaggy. Those of Dorset and Fox are slender. The
branches of several well-known pears are spiny. A glance through the
technical descriptions in Chapter IV shows that branches and branchlets
are variously colored. The branchlets may be _stout_ or _slender_,
_long-jointed_ or _short-jointed_, _pubescent_ or _glabrous_,
_straight_ or _zigzag_. The angle at which branchlets are set is often
characteristic. The epidermis may be smooth or covered with scarf-skin.
Lastly, the size, shape, color, number, and position of the corky cells
or lenticels on young wood is most important in identifying trees after
leaves have fallen.
_Leaf-buds and leaves._--Size, length, and shape of leaf-buds are
helpful in identifying varieties when the trees are dormant. There is
considerable difference in the length of buds of different varieties,
and they may vary in thickness; some are _plump_, others are _slender_.
The shape can usually be described as _acute_, _pointed_, _obtuse_,
or _conical_. If the bud lies close to the twig, it is said to be
_appressed_; if it stands from the twig at a considerable angle, it is
_free_. In some varieties the leaf-scar is conspicuous; in others, it
is inconspicuous.
While leaves vary much in accordance with the condition of the plant
which bears them, yet they offer a number of valuable distinguishing
characters. It is important in making use of leaves to take only
those borne on free-growing twigs, as those growing on luxuriant
water-sprouts on the one hand, or on slow-growing spurs on the other
are seldom typical.
The size of the leaf is a most valuable determinant of varieties of
pears. Length and breadth should be given in figures. The shape should
be depicted in carefully chosen words. The body of the leaf is usually
_ovate_ or _oval_, but these shapes must nearly always be modified by
_broad_ or _narrow_, _long_ or _short_. The apex requires a descriptive
word or two; as, _taper-pointed_, _acute_, or _obtuse_. Thickness and
texture are sometimes noteworthy. The texture is usually described
as _stiff_, _leathery_, or _pliant_. Sometimes the leaves are flat;
sometimes folded upward, and rarely they are folded downward. The color
of both the upper and lower surfaces is often important; and the amount
of pubescence, if present, must always be noted on the two surfaces.
The autumnal tint is a marked characteristic in some varieties. The
margins offer valuable evidence for identification in the character
of the serrations which are usually distinct in a variety. Sometimes
glands and hairs are found on the margins, in which case they are
usually noteworthy. The time of appearance and the fall of leaves are
life events that distinguish some varieties. Leaves are many in some
sorts; few in others. The length, thickness, color of the petiole and
whether it is _smooth_, _pubescent_ or _channeled_ are usually worth
noting. The presence and the size and color of stipules are often
important enough to record. The petioles of pear leaves are larger and
slenderer than those of the apple, and the foliage of a pear-tree has
something of the tremulous habit of the aspen and other poplars. The
leaves have a gloss that distinguishes them at once from those of the
apple-tree. As a rule, the foliage of the pear drops earlier in the
autumn than that of the apple.
When the leaves of pears open in the spring they are folded along the
midrib, and are covered with snow-white wool, but at full maturity no
trace of this woolly covering remains. The amount and texture of this
covering on the leaves of different varieties vary greatly, although it
is doubtful if this character is of much use for taxonomic purposes.
_Flower-buds and flowers._--It is not possible to distinguish
flower-buds from leaf-buds by their external appearance as certainly
as might be wished for the purposes of ascertaining what the crop will
be and that pruning and budding may be done more intelligently. As a
rule, however, the flower-buds are larger, plumper, and have a blunter
point. The flower-buds are much like leaf-buds in color--usually a dark
brown. They may be readily told by their contents when examined under
a microscope. Time of opening is a mark of distinction with varieties
that bloom very early or very late, but the flowers of most varieties
of pears open at approximately the same time.
The flowers of pears give small opportunity to identify varieties
but are useful. The petals in most of the flowers of varieties of
_P. communis_ meet or lap at the widest point, which is a short
distance from the point of attachment. Occasionally a variety has
the petals widely separated. Easter Beurré, Vermont Beauty, and Dana
Hovey are examples of varieties with widely-separated petals. Round
and broadly-oval petals meet or lap, long narrow petals are usually
separated. The size, shape, and color of the petals offer the best
means of identification from flowers. The length, thickness, and amount
and kind of pubescence on the styles may distinguish varieties. The
styles of the Howell pear are abnormally short. The number of flowers
in a cluster, and whether the cluster is dense or loose are important.
The character of the fruit-spurs is nearly always noteworthy. The
calyx-tubes, calyx-lobes, and pedicels differ materially. These
structures in the flower, while offering decisive evidence in
identification, are seldom used by pomologists because character of
plant and fruit may be studied during a much longer time and are of
greater cultural importance. In the blooming season, length, diameter,
and the pubescence of stamens may be noted, but much more important
taxonomically is the position of the stamens on the calyx-tube in the
mature fruit. These organs, or remnants of them, persist in the ripened
fruits, as will be noted in the discussion of characters of the fruit.
Lastly, some varieties may be told during the blooming season by the
distribution of the blossoms on the tree. The flowers of many varieties
are borne on the periphery of the tree, and give the plant an aspect by
which one may recognize the variety at once.
If a variety is not noteworthy in the characters for which the fruit
is grown--those which appeal to the senses of taste and sight--it
has small chance of being cultivated long or widely. Hence, especial
attention is paid to descriptions of the fruit. Some pomologists
describe varieties only from the fruit, saying little or nothing about
the plant.
FRUIT-CHARACTERS OF POMES
_Season and use._--Perhaps season is the first, and certainly it is one
of the most important characters to be noted in the ripened fruit. By
season is meant the period in which a variety is in proper condition
for use. Unless otherwise stated, season has reference to the period
during which fruit is in condition in ordinary storage, as it is
understood that cold-storage greatly prolongs the natural season. The
terms _summer_, _fall_, and _winter_, sometimes modified by _early_
or _late_, give the season with sufficient accuracy. Keeping quality
and shipping quality, both dependent on several factors, are usually
mentioned in connection with season.
Rather closely connected with season is use. The uses for which a
variety is particularly suited should always be indicated. Thus, a
market variety is one suitable for the general market; a local market
sort is one which does not stand handling well enough for the general
market but is acceptable in local trade. A variety for dessert or
table is suitable for eating in the uncooked state; cooking or kitchen
varieties are desirable for culinary purposes.
_Size and shape of fruit._--Of external characters of pears, size
is important if several typical specimens can be examined, but is
often misleading because under the stress of environment abnormal
specimens may be produced. Gradations in size are expressed by the
terms _large_, _medium_, and _small_, modified by _very_, _above_, and
_below_. Used in connection with size, _uniform_ signifies that the
fruit of a variety runs fairly even in the same size.
Shape is the most important character in describing the fruit. It may
be used with immature as well as mature specimens. In determining
the shape of the fruit, the pear should be held opposite to the eye
perpendicular to the diameter from stem to calyx; or the fruit may be
cut longitudinally at its widest diameter. The shape of the body of
the pear is usually described first, followed by a description of the
narrow part bearing the stem, if this neck is prominent enough to be
noteworthy. A pear is _pyriform_ when the curve formed by the body and
neck is concave; _turbinate_, or top-shaped, when the body is nearly
round with a short neck. The neck may be _long_ or _short_, _distinct_
or _obscure_, _obtuse_ or _acute_. Sheldon is typically turbinate;
Beurré d'Anjou, Beurré Bose, and Bartlett are all pyriform.
A graphic record should accompany a description of the fruit to show
size and shape. A simple outline drawing serves the purpose.
_The stem._--Varying as little as any other character of the pear, the
stem is much used in identification. It may be _long_ and _slender_,
as in the Beurré Bose; _short_ and _thick_, as in Doyenné du Comice;
_fleshy_, as in Louise Bonne de Jersey; _clubbed_, when enlarged at
the end; and _lipped_ when the flesh forms a protuberance under which
the stem is inserted. The stems of pears are often set _obliquely_ as
in Beurré Clairgeau; or are _crooked_ or _curved_ as in Howell. In a
few varieties the stems are _channeled_. The stems of some pears have
distinguishing colors, those of others are pubescent. In some pears, as
Souvenir d'Espéren, there are bud-like projections on the stem.
The length of the stem in pears is a reliable diagnostic character
only when it is known from what part of the flower-cluster the fruit
was developed. For, as a rule, the nearer the flower to the tip of the
raceme in the pear, the shorter the stem on the fruit.
_Cavity and basin._--The cavity, the depression in which the stem
is set, offers several marks which greatly enhance the value of a
description of any of the pears. The cavity may be _acute_ or _obtuse_;
_shallow_, _medium_, or _deep_; _narrow_, _medium_, or _broad_;
_smooth_ or _russeted_; _furrowed_, _ribbed_, _angular_, or _uniform_;
or it may be _lipped_ as described under stem. The color of the skin
within the cavity is sometimes different from that without, and there
may be radiating lines, rays, or streaks.
The basin, the depression in which the calyx is set, is as important
as the cavity in classifying pears and is described by the same terms.
The furrows in the basin are sometimes indistinct and are then called
_wavy_. The skin around the calyx-lobes may be _wrinkled_, _plaited_,
_folded_, or _corrugated_. Rarely, there are fleshy protuberances about
the calyx-lobes called _mammiform appendages_.
_Calyx-lobes._--The withered calyx-lobes persist in some pears and
not in others. They persist in European pears, but are deciduous in
the edible-fruited Asiatic species. The calyx-lobes may be _open_,
_partly open_, or _closed_ in varieties of the fruits in which they
are persistent. In some varieties the segments are separated at the
base; in others, united. The lobes may lie flat on the fruit or may
stand erect. When upright, if the tips incline inward the lobes are
said to be _connivent_; if inclined outward, they are _reflexed_, or
_divergent_. The lobes may be _broad_ or _narrow_, with tips _acute_ or
_accuminate_.
_Characters of the skin._--The skin of all pears offers several most
valuable features for classification. Of these characters, color is
the most important. Perhaps no character of fruits varies more in
accordance with environment than the color, yet the color itself
and the way in which it is distributed on the fruit, serve to make
this character a fairly safe distinguishing mark for most varieties
of pears. The ground-color of pears is the green or yellow-green of
chlorophyll, usually with an over-color of tints and shades of yellow
or red. The over-color may be laid on in _stripes_, _splashes_, or
_streaks_; as a _blush_; may mottle the surface; or may be a single
color, in which case the fruit is said to be _self-colored_. In nearly
all varieties of colored pears, it is not an uncommon anomaly to find
trees under some conditions bearing green fruits. Usually, in pears,
the color is laid on solidly; very few varieties have striped or
splashed fruits.
The skin may be _thick_ or _thin_, _tough_ or _tender_. In a few
varieties it is relatively free from the flesh, but with most clings
tightly. The surface of the skin is often waxy or oily. This character
must not be confused with _waxen_ which refers to the glossy appearance
of the skin.
Some pears have an unbroken russet surface as Beurré Bose and Sheldon.
Or, the surface may be rough because of minute russet dots or netted
veins. With many sorts, the cavity alone is russeted. Sometimes the
russet of the cavity is spread out in radiating lines.
Nearly all pears have few or many dots on the skin, notes on which
may enhance the value of a description. These may be _obscure_ or
_conspicuous, large_ or _small_, _raised_ or _sunken_. If visible under
the epidermis, they are said to be _submerged_. When star-like, they
are called _stellate_. If surrounded by a halo of lighter color, they
are said to be _areolar_. In some varieties, the dots are elongated.
Very often the dots are russeted. The roughened outer skin, called
_scarf-skin_, gives a distinguishing appearance to a few pears.
_Cutting pears to show the internal structure._--When varieties cannot
be distinguished from external marks, there are several very reliable
characters that can be made use of in the internal anatomy of the
fruits. To study these it is necessary to make a longitudinal and a
transverse section of the pear. To make an accurate examination of
the internal structure, the sectioning must be done with a keen, thin
knife, with a steady hand, and a good eye.
In making the longitudinal section the knife should pass through the
center of the calyx, showing the remnants of styles and stamens;
through the middle of the core cell, showing the outline of the core
cavity; and through the middle of the stem. A true record cannot be
obtained, unless the organs named are divided fairly accurately in
halves. In making the transverse section, the knife should pass through
the widest diameter of the fruit, cutting the core in half. If the core
is not in the center of the fruit, trial cuts to locate it must be made
that it may be halved exactly.
_The stamens, calyx-tube, and styles._--After halving the fruit
longitudinally, the first organs to be studied are the stamens, the
position of which furnishes reliable taxonomic data in apples and is
occasionally worth noting in pears. Passing from the stamens to the
calyx-tube, it will be found that the shape of this structure is of
some use in separating varieties, although it is exceedingly variable
in accordance with the size of the pear, and is materially altered by
abnormalities in the fruit. The base of the styles in some varieties
develop into fleshy tissue which alters the shape of the calyx-tube.
The calyx-tube may be _cone-shaped_, _funnel-shaped_, or _urn-shaped_.
When funnel-shaped, the broad upper part is called the _limb_; the
narrow lower part, the _cylinder_. In some varieties the remnants of
the styles are often more or less fleshy and form a point, called the
_pistil point_, which projects into the calyx-tube.
_The core._--The position of the core in the fruit is often a valuable
means of distinguishing varieties. If close to the stem, the core is
said to be _sessile_; if at the center of the pome, it is _median_;
when distant from the stem, _distant_.
The cell containing seed, called a carpel, is morphologically a
modified leaf, which, by folding together and by union of its edges
forms a closed receptacle. In some varieties, the carpels are _open_;
in others _closed_. If the tip of the carpel is indented, it is said to
be _emarginate_; if long and pointed, _mucronate_. In shape, carpels
may be _round_, _cordate_, _obcordate_, _elliptical_, _oblong_,
_elongated_, _ovate_, or _obovate_. In the cores of most pomes there
is a central cavity called the _core cavity_, sometimes spoken of as
the _axial sac_ which may be either _narrow_, _wide_, or _lacking_.
This is a character of much importance and reliability in pears. When
the carpels extend quite to the axis of the fruit, they are said to
be _axile_ and there is no core cavity; when distant from the axis,
they are _abaxile_ and a core cavity is formed. Sometimes the carpel
is lined on the inner surface with a white substance, when it is
said to be _tufted_. In some pears, there are many fine hairs in the
core-cavity in which case the cavity is said to be _tufted_.
The limits of the core are marked by a line in most
pome-fruits--usually very distinct in apples and quinces--which in most
varieties of pears is indistinct. The area enclosed by this line may be
large or small and may be variously shaped. When the core-line joins
the calyx-tube along the sides, it is said to be _clasping_; when the
two ends of the line meet at the base of the calyx-tube, the expression
_core-lines meeting_ is used. The core-line in pears is nearly always,
if not always, clasping and very often it is a more or less thickened
area of grit-cells.
_Seeds._--Seeds are characteristic in all varieties of pears and might
well be used more generally than is the case in classification. The
number is exceedingly variable in different varieties. The usual number
is two in each cell, but often there are three or more and occasionally
they are missing. Seeds vary greatly in different varieties in size,
shape, and color, and differences in these characters are as constant
as are those of any other organ of the fruit. Number, size, shape, and
color of seeds should be noted with care in every technical description
of a pear. The point of the seed, also, is worth noting; it may be
_acute, acuminate_, or _obtuse_. Like the carpels, the seeds are often
_tufted_. There are several so-called seedless pears, but all of these
occasionally contain some seeds. Very often seedlessness is brought
about by lack of proper pollination. An occasional fruit without seeds
is found in nearly all varieties, but these fruits are usually more or
less abnormal in size or shape.
_Flesh._--Most pears may be identified from the flesh-characters
without a glance at any other part of fruit or plant. Flavor, odor, and
texture of flesh are distinct in almost every variety, and appeal more
strongly to the senses of taste and smell than characters measured by
the eye do to the sight. Unfortunately, flavors, odors, and textures
are difficult to describe.
All characters of the flesh vary greatly in accordance with conditions
of growth, soil and climate having a profound influence on texture,
flavor, and quality. It is important, also, in describing the flesh
to have the fruit at the proper stage of maturity, and as immaturity
verges into maturity and maturity into decay almost imperceptibly, each
condition affecting the flesh, it is not surprising that differences of
opinion may be many in judging the flesh-characters of a fruit.
In cutting a pear the color of the flesh is first noted. It may be
nearly white, as in Flemish Beauty; tinged with yellow, as in Tyson;
greenish-white as in Bartlett; or tinged with red, as in Joséphine de
Malines. Pears with red flesh are occasionally found, but no standard
varieties have flesh of this color. Sanguinole, grown more or less
in Europe, has flesh of a wine-red color. Very often the texture of
pear-flesh is marred by grittiness to which some varieties are much
more subject than others. In most cases, however, the grit-cells are
abnormal, and a discussion of their presence and cause belongs under
the head of diseases in another chapter.
One determines the nature of the texture by cutting the fruit, through
pressure by the fingers, and by eating. The texture may be _coarse_ or
_fine_; _tender_ or _tough_; _crisp_, _breaking_, _melting_, or _almost
buttery_; _dry_ or _juicy_.
_Flavor and quality._--Pears are readily divided into two classes as
to flavor; they are either _sweet_ or _sour_. The qualifying terms
_mildly_ and _very_ are often used with sweet and sour. _Subacid_,
_tart_, and _sprightly_ are sometimes most expressive. _Austere_ refers
to a flavor more or less sour with some astringency. The flavor may
often be put down as _astringent_. All varieties have a more or less
distinct aroma. _Rich_ and _refreshing_ are words often found in the
rather extensive vocabulary necessary to describe the flavor of this
fruit.
Quality is that combination of texture, flavor, and aroma which makes
a fruit pleasant to the palate. Quality is rated by common consent of
pomologists by five grades: _Poor_, _fair_, _good_, _very good_, and
_best_. It should be noted that _good_ in this rating signifies a fruit
of but medium quality.
[Illustration: PEAR]
The characters of pears are graphically shown on the opposite page in
a descriptive form filled out for Bartlett in a description of this
variety for _The Pears of New York_. This is, however, but a skeleton,
and most of the characters must be more fully described than a form
like this permits. Few pomologists in these days have the temerity
to offer a description compiled in whole or in part. Descriptions are
worth while only when made from living specimens before the eyes of the
describer.
SPECIES OF PEARS
The foregoing pages discussing the characters of pears were preparation
for a proper understanding of descriptions of pears. A discussion of
the species which constitute or may constitute forms for cultivation
either for their fruit or as stocks upon which to grow edible pears
logically follows.
Edible pears fall into two well-marked groups: Those coming from Europe
and northwestern Asia, occidental pears; and those coming from eastern
and northeastern Asia, oriental pears.
OCCIDENTAL PEARS
In this group belong the thousands of varieties under common
cultivation in Europe, the United States, and in temperate regions
settled by Europeans. These pears are distinct from oriental pears in
place of origin, and by fairly well-marked botanical characters. Thus,
the leaves of these occidental pears are crenate-serrate and entire
and never setose-serrate; and the calyx is persistent on the fruits.
For most part, the fruits of the two divisions are quite distinct,
especially in shape, but no constant line of cleavage can be found in
the pears. There are several species of these occidental pears grown
for their fruits or as ornamentals. Only one, however, is of great
importance. This is _P. communis_, to a discussion of which we now come.
1. =PYRUS COMMUNIS= Linnaeus.
=1.= Linnaeus _Sp. Pl._ 479. 1753.
=2.= Loudon _Arb. et Frut. Brit._ =2=:880. 1838.
=3.= Schneider _Laubholzk_. =1=:661. 1906.
Tree vigorous, attaining a height of 50 ft. and a diameter of 2 ft.,
usually with an upright, oblong, or pyramidal, compact top; bark on
trunk of mature trees rough, with large persistent scales; branches
usually stout, thorny, variously colored, overlaid with scarf-skin;
branchlets glossy, smooth, glabrous, with more or less conspicuous
lenticels. Leaf-buds prominent, plump, obtuse or pointed, mostly
free; leaf-scars conspicuous. Leaves 2 to 4 in. long, 1 to 2-1/2 in.
wide, oval or oblong-ovate, thin, hard or leathery, veiny; upper
surface dark green, glabrous; lower surface light green, glabrous;
both surfaces downy as the leaves open; apex acuminate; margins
crenate-serrate or entire, never setose-serrate; teeth often tipped
with small glands; petiole 1 to 2 in. long, slender. Flower-buds
larger and plumper than leaf-buds; borne on fruiting spurs in dense
or loose clusters of 4 to 10; flowers showy, 1 in. across, white or
sometimes with tinge of pink; calyx persistent or rarely deciduous;
styles distinct to the base, sometimes downy; stamens 15 to 20;
pedicels 1 in. long, slender, sometimes pubescent.
Fruits exceedingly variable under cultivation; varying from 1 in.
in length and diameter to 3 in. in diameter and 5 to 6 in. in
length; variously shaped, as pyriform, turbinate, round-conic, or
round-oblate; green, yellow, red, or russet, or combinations of these
colors; flesh white, yellowish, sometimes pink or wine-red, rarely
salmon-colored; flesh firm, melting, or buttery and when ripening
on the tree with few or many grit-cells. Seeds 1 to 3 in a cell,
sometimes abortive or wanting, large, brown, or brownish, often tufted
at the tips.
_Pyrus communis_, the common pear, as stated in the preceding chapter,
is a native of southern Europe and southwestern Asia as far east as
Kashmir. The species is a frequent escape from cultivation, multiplying
from seed distributed by animals and by human agencies, and is now
to be found naturalized in forests and byways of the temperate zones
wherever pears are cultivated in orchards. The pear is not as hardy
as the apple, and is, therefore, less generally grown. It refuses to
grow in the warmest and coldest parts of the temperate zones, but is
a favorite orchard, dooryard, and roadside plant in all mid-temperate
regions.
The species comes from regions or localities where the climate is mild
and equable, neither very hot nor very cold, and grows in moist, cool,
and rather heavy soils. These predilections cling to cultivated pears
wherever grown, and pure-bred varieties do not thrive under other
conditions. Wild or cultivated, the pear is a deep-rooted plant, a fact
that must be taken into consideration in selecting orchard sites. On
shallow soils pears thrive better on the shallow-rooted quince.
Few cultivated fruits have changed more under domestication than
the common pear. The trees under cultivation are larger and much
more vigorous, and the fruits in the best orchard varieties--the
consummation of the breeder's art--would by no one be considered the
same species if the two were found in the wild. The pears from truly
wild trees in the Old World are small, nearly round, hard, gritty,
sour, and astringent. Fruits from the run-wild trees from the chance
transport of seeds in this country are scarcely more attractive to
either eye or palate. The product of these wild trees can hardly be
called edible fruits. Cultivated varieties seem to have been evolved,
until the advent of Le Conte and Kieffer, only by cultivation and
selection. All plants are improved more rapidly under hybridization
than selection, and now that the hybridization of this pear with other
species is in full swing, we may expect, for the New World at least, a
new pear flora in the immediate future.
The pear supplies man not only an important article of food but also
a refreshing drink. Perry, the expressed juice of pears, is a common
drink in all European countries. It is used somewhat as a fruit-juice,
but chiefly as a fermented beverage. Pear-juice is fermented in open
casks and at the end of fermentation contains from six to twelve per
cent of alcohol. In parts of England and France, special varieties are
grown in considerable numbers for perry-making. The wood of the pear is
hard, heavy, and close grained, for which qualities it is esteemed by
turners and engravers and for fuel. A mature pear-tree is a beautiful
ornamental, and few forest trees are nobler or more picturesque than
an old specimen of this species with its great size and irregular,
pyramidal top. A pear-tree has much merit for shade as well as an
ornamental.
Pears are easy of culture and propagation, subjects to be discussed in
full in the next chapter. A few words as to propagation are in place
here to show the affinities of this species with other species and
genera. The common pear readily inter-grafts with other pears, and its
cions may be made to grow, though with difficulty, on the apple. A
most noteworthy fact with this fruit is that though not easily grafted
on the apple and some other pears, it unites readily with the quince
and the hawthorn, both of which belongs to distinct genera. The common
pear hybridizes freely with the oriental pear, but whether with other
species does not appear. There are no records of the pear hybridizing
with the apple, but there are trustworthy accounts of hybrids with the
quince and with sorbus.
The classical name of the pear was Pirus, changed to Pyrus by
Tournefort, after which it was adopted by Linnaeus, who established
the genus and united with it the Malus and Cydonia of Tournefort.
Fortunately there is no confusion in the botanical nomenclature of
this fruit. Botanists agree, without notable divergence of opinion,
on the generic and specific names of this fruit. There are several
well-marked botanical varieties of _Pyrus communis_ as well as a number
of horticultural forms. The most prominent of these must be noted.
=PYRUS COMMUNUS PYRASTER= Linnaeus
=1.= Linnaeus _Sp. Pl._ 479. 1753.
This variety, rather common in parts of Europe, is similar to the type
in foliage but has globose fruits. The leaves differ somewhat in being
more rounded and in having margins more serrate. The plant is often
very thorny. Some botanists believe this form to be only an escape
from cultivation.
=PYRUS COMMUNIS SATIVA= De Candolle
=1.= De Candolle _Prod._ =2=:634. 1825.
This name is applied to the cultivated pear in its many pomological
forms. The trees are usually larger than those of the wild pears and
are without thorns. They differ also in having larger leaves, and
larger and better-flavored fruits.
=PYRUS COMMUNIS CORDATA= Hooker
=1.= Hooker, J. D. _Stud. Flora_ 131. 1878.
=2.= _P. cordata_ Desvaux _Obs. Pl. Anjou_ 152. 1818.
This botanical variety is a spiny shrub or shrub-like tree. The leaves
are smaller than those of the species, 1 in. in width, suborbicular
to ovate, subcordate at the base. Flowers smaller. Fruit globose or
slightly turbinate, very small, 1/2 in. in diameter; calyx persistent.
The species is a native of western France and is found in Devon and
Cornwall, England. This species is said to propagate itself freely
from root-suckers which suggests that it might be tried as a dwarfing
stock for the common pears.
=PYRUS COMMUNIS LONGIPES= Henry
=1.= Henry _Trees Gt. Brit. & Ire._ =6=:1561. 1912.
=2.= _P. longipes_ Cosson and Durien _Bull. Soc. Bot. France._
=2=:310. 1855.
The tree is small with a few spines. The leaves are about 2 in. long
and 1 in. wide, ovate, acuminate, subcordate, glabrous, finely and
crenately serrate, on long slender petioles. This variety differs
little from var. _cordata_ in its fruit except in the deciduous calyx.
It is found along the mountain streams of Algeria.
=PYRUS COMMUNIS MARIANA= Willkomm
=1.= _Linnaea_ =25=:25. 1852.
=2.= _P. bourgaeana_ Decaisne _Jar. Fruit._ i. t. 2. 1871.
This is a small tree found in the Sierra Morena in Spain. The leaves
are ovate, 1 in. in length, rounded at the base, on very long, slender
petioles. The pear is very small with a persistent calyx.
2. =PYRUS NIVALIS= Jacquin
=1.= _Fl. Austr._ =2=: 4, t. =107.= 1774.
Tree small, stout, without thorns; young shoots thickly covered with
white wool. Leaves oval or obovate, 2 to 3 in. long, 3/4 to 1-1/4 in.
wide, crenate at the base, entire, upper and lower surfaces covered
with white wool when young, nearly glaucous and the upper surface
shining when mature. Flowers white, 1-1/2 in. across, clustered. Fruit
roundish, yellowish-green, borne on a stalk as long or longer than the
fruit, acid or becoming sweetish at full maturity.
This pear is a native of eastern Europe and Asia Minor and is often
found in France as an escape from the orchard. The tree, which
sometimes attains a height of fifty feet, is said to be a handsome
ornamental. The species is sometimes under cultivation in France for
the fruits which make very good perry, and when bletted, as is the
medlar, are suitable for dessert. In Austria and adjoining parts of
Germany, the species is somewhat cultivated for the same purposes as
in France under the name _Schnee birn_ or Snow pear, because not fit
to eat until snow falls. This pear might have value to hybridize with
common pears for the improvement of their fruit.
Botanists are not quite certain of the botanical standing of _P.
nivalis_. By some botanists it is considered a cultivated form of _P.
elæagrifolia_ Pallas. By others it is thought to be a cross of which
_P. communis_ is one parent. _P. salvifolia_ De Candolle is either
closely allied to or identical with this species. _P. kotschyana_
Boissier differs from _P. nivalis_ chiefly in having smaller and harder
fruits. _P. elæagrifolia_ Pallas is distinguished by some botanists
from _P. kotschyana_ only by its spiny branches--not a constant
character.
=3.= =PYRUS AURICULARIS= Knoop
=1.= _Pomol._ =2=:38. 1763.
=2.= _P. irregularis_ Muenchhausen _Hausvater_ =5=:246. 1770.
=3.= _P. pollveria_ Linnaeus _Mant._ =2=:244. 1771.
=4.= _P. bollwyleriana_ De Candolle _Fl. France Suppl._ =5=:530.
1815.
A tree 30 to 50 ft. high, forming a round head; branchlets and buds
downy. Leaves ovate or oval, 3 to 4 in. long, 2 to 2-1/2 in. wide;
pointed, irregular, and coarsely and sometimes doubly toothed; upper
surface glossy, dark green, with glands on the midrib, glabrous at
maturity, downy when young; lower surface permanently covered with
gray tomentum; stalk 1 to 1-1/2 in. long, woolly. Flowers white,
nearly 1 in. across, 5 to 20 in tomentose corymbs; sepals covered with
pure white wool on both surfaces; styles 2 to 5, united and tomentose
at the base; stamens rosy red. Fruit pyriform, 1 to 1-1/2 in. in
diameter; stalk 1 to 1-1/2 in. long, reddish yellow; flesh yellow,
sweet.
This tree is an interesting hybrid between _P. communis_ and the
whitebeam, _P. aria_. It was first noticed at Bollweiler, Alsace, and
was first mentioned by J. Bauhin in 1619. It is propagated by grafts
as few of the seeds are fertile and these do not come true to name. It
bears fruit very sparingly, none being produced in some seasons.
Besides the species that have been named there are several other
occidental pears named by European botanists which may be looked
for in botanic gardens. Some of these might have value for work in
hybridization but it is doubtful. Of these, _P. heterophylla_ Regel and
Schmalhausen (_Act. Hort. Petropol_ =5=:pt. ii, 581. 1878) is a small
thorny tree from the mountain valleys of Turkestan. _P. amygdaliformis_
Villars (_Cat. Meth. Jardin Strasbourg_ 323. 1807) is a spiny
shrub or small tree, bearing small worthless fruits; a native of arid
soils in the regions of olives in southern Europe. _P. salicifolia_
Pallas (_Itin._ =3=:734. 1776) is a small spiny tree from the Crimea,
Caucasas, and Armenia; the fruit has little or no value. _P. syriaca_
Boissier (_Diag. Nov. Pl. Orient_ =10=:1. 1849) is a thorny, shrubby
tree from Syria, Asia Minor, and Kurdistan.
A review of botanical literature shows several other names of doubtful
species of Pyrus which seem more likely to be hybrids or abnormal
escapes from orchards. There are, also, many names which seem to be
synonyms. Material and literature at hand do not enable the author to
make certain of these, even if any sufficiently worthy purpose could be
served in a pomological text.
ORIENTAL PEARS
The oriental pears have been brought to America in comparatively
recent years, chiefly as ornamentals and for blight-resistant stocks;
but hybrids of at least one species of this group, _P. serotina_,
with the common pear have given many valuable orchard varieties. The
Chinese and Japanese cultivate several species for their fruits. These
pears constitute a group quite distinct in aspect of tree and fruit,
but no characters not in occidental species are found in all species
of the oriental group. The most constant differences, besides region
of origin, are found in the leaves and the calyx. The leaves in most
species are markedly acuminate and their margins are sharp-serrate
or setose-serrate. The calyx falls from the fruit in the species now
cultivated for food, but does not in two species promising for stocks.
[Illustration: _PYRUS SEROTINA_]
=4.= =PYRUS SEROTINA= Rehder
=1.= Rehder _Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci._ =50=:213. 1915.
Tree vigorous, upright, attaining a height of 20 to 50 ft., the
branches becoming glabrous. Leaves ovate-oblong, sometimes ovate,
3 to 5 in. long, rounded at the base and rarely subcordate or
cuneate, long-acuminate, sharply setose-serrate, with partially
appressed seratures; when young, villous, or lower surface cobwebby,
but becoming glabrous. Flowers white, borne in 6 to 9 flowered
umbellate-racemose clusters; glabrous or somewhat tomentose and borne
on slender pedicels; calyx-lobes triangular-ovate and long-acuminate,
1/4 to 1/2 in. long, glandulose-denticulate; petals oval,
short-clawed, 3/4 in. long; stamens about 20; styles 4 or 5, glabrous.
Fruit subglobose, russet-brown; stalk slender; calyx deciduous.
This oriental pear has been referred to _P. sinensis_ Lindley (not
Poiret) by botanists and horticulturists since its introduction
in Europe nearly one hundred years ago until 1915 when Rehder,
discovering that the true _P. sinensis_ had been lost to cultivation,
proposed the name _P. lindleyi_ for one group and _P. serotina_ for
another group of Chinese pears passing under Lindley's original
species, _P. sinensis_.
This species comes from central and western China, where the fruits are
used for food under the name, with that of other brown-fruited species,
of _tang-li_. American pomologists are interested in the type species
as a possible source of blight-resistant stocks for varieties of the
common pear. Stocks of this species, however, grown on the Pacific
slope have not proved satisfactory because difficult to bud, and very
susceptible to leaf-blight, and because they are not as resistant
to pear-blight as an ideal stock should be. Rehder, an authority on
oriental pears, gives two botanical varieties. His var. _stapfiana_
differs from the type in bearing pyriform fruits; leaves with less
appressed serratures; and petals with attenuate claws. So far as now
appears it is of no greater value to pomology than the type. The other
botanical variety which Rehder describes, var. _culta_, is of great
importance in pomology and must have detailed consideration.
=PYRUS SEROTINA CULTA= Rehder
=1.= Rehder _Prod. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci._ =50=:233. 1915.
=2.= _P. sinensis_ Hort. Not Lindley nor Poiret.
=3.= _P. japonica_ Hort. Not Thunberg.
=3.= _P. sieboldi_ Carrière _Rev. Hort._. 110. 1880.
=5.= _P. sinensis culta_ Makino _Tokyo Bot. Mag._ =22=:69. 1908.
Tree large, vigorous; top spreading, drooping, open; trunk thick,
shaggy; branches stout, zigzag, greenish-brown, with a slight covering
of scarf-skin marked with many conspicuous, elongated lenticels;
branchlets slender, with long internodes, brownish-red, tinged
with green and with thin, ash-gray scarf-skin, glabrous, with many
unusually conspicuous, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds sharply pointed,
plump, thick at the base, free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 4-1/8
in. long, 2-5/8 in. wide, thick, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin
tipped with very fine reddish-brown glands, finely serrate; petiole
thick, 2 in. long, lightly pubescent, greenish-red. Flower-buds
thick, short, conical, plump, free, arranged singly on very short
spurs; flowers with a disagreeable odor, bloom in mid-season, 1-1/4
in. across, averaging 7 buds in a cluster; calyx-lobes long, narrow,
acuminate, glandular, reflexed, lightly pubescent within and without;
petals broadly oval, entire, apex rounded; pistils 4 or 5, from a
common base, longer than the stamens, pubescent at base; stamens 1/4
in. long, with dull red anthers; pedicels 1-1/2 in. long, slender,
thinly pubescent, pale green.
Fruit ripe February-March; 2-1/4 in. long, 2-1/8 in. wide, round,
slightly pyriform, irregularly ribbed, with unequal sides; stem 1-1/2
in. long, curved, slender; cavity acute, deep, narrow, furrowed,
lipped; calyx deciduous; basin shallow, wide, obtuse, gently furrowed
or wrinkled; skin tough, smooth, waxy; color lemon-yellow, with russet
lines and nettings and many russet specks; dots numerous, small,
conspicuous, brownish-russet; flesh yellowish-white, very granular,
crisp, tough, juicy, with a peculiar aroma unlike that of the common
pear; poor in quality. Core large, open, axile, with clasping
core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds roundish, of medium
size, wide, plump, obtuse.
The Sand pear differs from the type in fruit and foliage. The pears are
much larger and are commonly apple-form as shown in the accompanying
plate, but trees bearing pyriform fruits are not unknown. The leaves
are larger and broader. Rehder, who separated this form from its
species, writes, "The Japanese pear cultivated under the name Madame
Von Siebold may be considered as representing the type of this
variety." These pears are known to pomologists under several names; as
Chinese Sand, Sand, Japanese, Hawaii, Sha Lea, Gold Dust, Mikado, and
Diamyo, although it is possible that the last three are hybrids. The
pear illustrated and described in this text as a representative of this
botanical variety came from seed sent from Manchuria.
The pears are attractive in appearance, keep well, and are palatable
in culinary preparations, but are possessed of a gritty flesh and
potato-like flavor which debar them as dessert fruits in all regions
where the common pear can be grown. The several varieties of var.
_culta_ now in America came from Japan where the species must have been
early introduced from China as this is now the most common fruit of the
Japanese with the exception of the persimmon. In China and Japan there
are a number of pomological varieties, which, however, differ from
each other less than varieties of the European pear. The fruits of the
several varieties grown in America are often mistaken for apples, from
which they are distinguished by their deciduous calyxes, rough, dry
skins, long stems, juicy, gritty flesh, and insipid potato-like flavor.
Seedlings of var. _culta_ fail as stocks for European varieties in the
same characters in which the species is unsatisfactory.
This oriental pear hybridizes freely with the common pear, and it
is for this purpose that it is most valuable in America. Several of
these hybrids are important commercial varieties in North America
of which Kieffer, Le Conte, and Garber, in the order named, are the
best known and the most useful. Sterility is a common attribute of
hybrids, but the hybrids between these two species are not more sterile
than varieties of the parents. These hybrids are stronger and more
rapid in growth than the common pear and are more productive and more
resistant to blight. The pears are more pyriform and of much better
flavor than those of the oriental parent. The calyx of hybrid fruits
is sometimes persistent and sometimes deciduous. The hybrids do not
make good stocks and intergraft but poorly with the common pear. Of all
pear-trees, these are handsomest in growth when in perfect health and
make excellent ornamental trees. The strong, clean growth, luxuriant
green foliage, beautifully tinted in the autumn, resembles the oriental
rather than the occidental parent. It is doubtful whether hybrid trees
will attain the great size of those of the common pear, and they seem
to succumb to the ills of old age rather more quickly than those of
the European parent. The hybrid pears seem less well liked by the
pestiferous San Jose scale than the common pear. The first flush of
popularity having passed, hybrid pears have found their proper place
in American pomology. They belong to the South and Middle West where
the common pear is illy adapted to the climate. In the North and on the
Pacific slope, pear-growers are wisely planting varieties the fruits of
which are better in quality.
=5.= =PYRUS USSURIENSIS= Maximowicz
=1.= _P. ussuriensis_ Maximowicz _Bull. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb._
=15=:132. 1857.
=2.= _P. sinensis_ Decaisne _Bull. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb._
=19=:172. 1883.
=3.= _P. simonii_ Carrière _Rev. Hort._ 28. 1872. fig. 3.
=4.= _P. sinensis ussuriensis_ Makino _Tokyo Bot. Mag._ =22=:69.
1908.
Rehder says of _P. ussuriensis_,[15]
"This species differs from the allied species chiefly in the short
stalk of the globose fruit with persistent calyx, in the broad, often
nearly orbicular, strongly setosely serrate leaves and in the lighter
yellowish-brown branches; the flower clusters are, owing to the short
stalks, rather dense and hemispherical, the petals are obovate and
rather gradually narrowed toward the base; the styles are distinctly
pilose near the base."
Wilson,[16] describing the vegetation of Korea, says of this species:
"_Pyrus ussuriensis_ is abundant and this year is laden with fruit.
On some trees the fruit is wholly green, on others reddish on one
side; the length of the peduncle varies and the same is true of the
leaf-structure; the calyx is persistent or deciduous often on fruits
on the same branch."
The habitat of this species is northern and northeastern China and
eastern Siberia. Manchuria, Korea, Amurland, and Ussurri are named as
regions in which it is most commonly found. A glance at the map shows
that this habitat is in the far north for pears, and it might well be
suspected that this would be one of the hardiest of all pears, and this
proves to be the case. Horticultural varieties are reported by Chinese
explorers, some of which have been introduced by the United States
Department of Agriculture. These no doubt have some value in the most
northern fruit regions of America and if not for their fruits, they may
prove useful in hybridization. But it is as a possible stock resistant
to blight that the species has received most attention in this country.
Reimer, of Oregon, found this species to be very resistant to
fire-blight and at first thought it might prove to be a valuable stock.
Following Reimer's experiments much was said of it as a promising
new stock, and the United States Department of Agriculture gave it a
thorough trial from the results of which they discouraged its use. The
tree proved to be a slow grower; very subject to leaf-blight, therefore
unable to hold its leaves during the growing and budding season,
difficult to use in budding as the tough bark did not "slip" easily,
and but a small number of the buds took. According to Galloway,[17]
however, the Kuan li or Chinese water pear, which he says belongs to
the Ussuriensis group, is one of the most promising pear stocks. Both
for its fruits and as a stock, this species is likely to receive much
attention in the United States for some time to come. The difficulty at
present, as we have found at this Station, is to get seeds or budding
wood true to name of the forms of the species that seem to be most
desirable.
6. =PYRUS SERRULATA= Rehder
=1.= _P. serrulata_ Rehder _Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci._ =50=:234.
1915.
Chinese Saw-leafed Pear. This species, according to Rehder, is closely
related to _P. serotina_ but differs from it chiefly in its serrulate,
not setosely serrate, generally broader, leaves, in the smaller flowers
with usually three or four styles, and in the shorter sepals and
smaller fruit.
This pear was first found by E. H. Wilson in 1907 in western Hupeh.
The province of Hupeh is 800 or 900 miles west and south of Shanghai.
The pears in this location grow in thickets at an altitude of 4000 to
5000 feet. Reimer found the species at Ichang, in Hupeh, at elevations
of 3000 to 3700 feet. Its occurrence at these altitudes indicates that
it is a hardy form. Whether the species is likely to be valuable for
its fruits, or for hybridization, does not appear, but Galloway,[17]
reporting on it as tested by the United States Department of
Agriculture, says that it is affected but slightly by leaf-blight,
holds its foliage well in hot summers, and has a long budding season.
These statements indicate that it is worth trying as a stock.
[Illustration: _PYRUS BETULAEFOLIA_]
=7.= =PYRUS BETULÆFOLIA= Bunge
=1.= _P. betulæfolia_ Bunge _Mem. Sav. Etr. Acad. Sci. St. Petersb._
=2=:101. 1833.
=2.= Decaisne _Jard. Fruit._ =1=:20. 1872.
=3.= Carrière _Rev. Hort._ 318. 1879. figs. 68, 69.
=4.= Sargent _Gard. & For_. =7=:224. 1894. fig. 39.
Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, open-topped, hardy; trunk
stocky, shaggy, and rough; branches thick, dull brownish-red, thickly
coated with gray scarf-skin, sprinkled with numerous small, raised
lenticels; branchlets slender, willowy, long, with long internodes,
dull reddish-brown, with gray scarf-skin, heavily pubescent, with
small, conspicuous, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short,
flattened, pointed, free. Leaves 4 in. long, 2-1/8 in. wide, thick,
stiff; apex taper-pointed; margin sharply and coarsely serrate;
teeth tipped with small, reddish-brown glands; petiole 1-3/4 in.
long, slender, pubescent, tinged red. Flower-buds small, short,
conical, plump, free, arranged singly on long spurs; flowers open
late, with a rather unpleasant odor, showy, 1-3/16 in. across, white,
in dense clusters, 13 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1-5/16 in. long,
slender, pubescent, pale green; calyx-tube pale green mingled with
white pubescence, dark greenish-yellow within, campanulate, thickly
pubescent; calyx-lobes greenish within and with white pubescence,
short, narrow, acuminate, tipped with very small, sharp, reddish-brown
glands, heavily pubescent within and without, reflexed; petals
separated at the base but with meeting cheeks, round-oval, entire,
with short, narrow claws, white at the base; anthers deep pinkish-red;
filaments short, shorter than the petals; styles 2 to 3; pistils
glabrous, usually as long as the stamens; stigma very small. Fruit
russet, heavily dotted, the size of a small grape; calyx deciduous;
pears hanging until the following spring.
The above description was made from a plant grown from seed obtained
from the Arnold Arboretum in 1900, that institution having obtained
the species from the mountains near Peking in 1882. This pear has been
collected by various explorers in the regions about Peking, especially
to the north and east, and is not uncommon in these parts of China. The
small pears are without value for food, but the trees are promising
stocks. While Reimer reports the species as susceptible to fire-blight
in Oregon, it has not proved particularly so on the grounds of this
Station nor elsewhere in the East. The seedlings are also free from
leaf-blight. The young plants grow vigorously from seed or cuttings;
are capable of being budded throughout a long season; they make a good
union with other pears in China according to Reimer; and the variety is
so common in China that there is little difficulty in getting seed true
to name. The tree is a handsome ornamental.
=8.= =PYRUS CALLERYANA= Decaisne
=1.= _P. calleryana Decaisne Jard. Fruit._ =1=:8. 1872.
Rehder[18] says of this species,
"_Pyrus calleryana_ is a widely distributed species and seems not
uncommon on mountains at an altitude of from 1000 to 1500 m. It is
easily recognizable by its comparatively small crenate leaves, like
the inflorescence glabrous or nearly glabrous, and by its small
flowers with two, rarely three styles. When unfolding most specimens
show a loose and thin tomentum on the under side of the leaves which
usually soon disappears, but in No. 1662 from Kuling even the fully
grown leaves are loosely rusty tomentose on the midrib beneath. In
No. 415a the leaves are longer, generally ovate-oblong, the pedicels
very long and slender, about 3 to 4 cm. long and the sepals are mostly
long-acuminate. The fruit of No. 556a is rather large, about 1 to 1.4
cm. in diameter, but a fruit examined proved to be two-celled."
This species is reported from various places in China with western
Hupeh as the chief habitat. Reimer,[19] of Oregon, reports this as a
most promising stock for the common pear, and Galloway,[20] of the
United States Department of Agriculture, says that "Of all the pears
tested and studied this remarkable species holds out the greatest
promise as a stock." In America it stands the cold as far north as the
Arnold Arboretum, near Boston, and endures summer heat as far south as
Brooksville, Florida. The plant is reported as vigorous under nearly
all conditions. Galloway reports that it can be budded from July 1 to
September 1 at Washington. All kinds of pears take well upon it; the
seeds are easily obtained, easily grown, and run remarkably uniform.
=9.= =PYRUS OVOIDEA= Rehder
=1.= _Proc. Am. Acad. Arts & Sci._ =50=:228. 1915.
=2.= _P. sinensis Hemsley Jour. Linn. Soc._ =23=:257. 1887, in part.
Not Poiret nor Lindley.
=3.= Schneider _Ill. Handb. Laubholzk_. =1=:663. 1906. fig. 364 c-d.
=4.= _P. simonii_ Hort. Not Carrière.
Rehder, who established this species, says of it: "This species seems
to be most closely related to _P. ussuriensis_ Maximowicz which differs
chiefly in the broader orbicular-ovate or ovate leaves, in the lighter
colored branches, and in the short-stalked subglobose fruit with the
persistent sepals spreading. The shape of the fruit of _P. ovoidea_
is very unusual and quite distinct from any pear I know; the fruit
is exactly ovate, broad and rounded at the base and tapering from
the middle toward the truncate apex, as figured by Schneider (fig.
364 d). This may, however, not be a specific character and the shape
of the fruit may vary in other specimens referable to this species.
The Chinese material which I have seen and which might belong here
is very meagre. The Fokien specimen is in young fruit which suggests
a more pyriform shape, though tapering toward the apex and showing
the same kind of persistent calyx; the serration of the leaves is
more minute and more accumbent. The Yunnan specimen is in flower and
differs somewhat in the more copious tomentum of the leaves and of the
inflorescence and in the shorter, nearly entire calyx-lobes.
"It is not known when and whence this species was introduced. Possibly
it was sent in the early sixties from northern China by G. E. Simon,
or by A. David a little later from the same region or from Mongolia to
the Museum in Paris and was afterwards distributed by Decaisne."
This species is of importance to pear-growers as a stock. Discussing it
as a stock, Reimer[19] says: "This species ranks second only to _Pyrus
ussuriensis_ in blight resistance. During 1915 we were unable to get
the disease to develop more than four inches even in vigorous growing
shoots of this species. During the very favorable season of 1916
vigorous shoots would blight down as much as fifteen inches. As soon as
it reached the hard wood of the previous season it would stop. All the
inoculations into one and two-year-old trunks have failed to develop
the disease.
"The trees are vigorous growers, and produce medium sized fruit, which
is egg-shaped, and has a persistent calyx. This species is a native of
northern China, and was formerly known as _Pyrus simonii_."
=10.= =PYRUS VARIOLOSA= Wallich
=1.= _Cat. No. 680._ 1828.
Reimer,[21] now a leading authority on blight-resistant stocks, writes
of _P. variolosa_: "This species is one of the most promising types in
our collection. The tree is a beautiful, vigorous, upright grower. It
makes a good union with cultivated varieties, and should prove valuable
as a stock for top-working.
"This species, while not immune to blight, is very resistant. During
the summer of 1915 a large number of innoculations were made into
the tips of young branches, and these usually would blight back for
a distance of three to five inches. During 1916, a very favorable
season for pear blight, the disease would extend down young branches
as much as from twelve to eighteen inches, and in one case as much
as two feet. Seventy-seven inoculations were made into the trunks
of two-year-old trees. All but seven of them failed to develop the
disease. In the successful infections, only small superficial cankers
were produced. In these cankers a new cambium would readily form, and
the entire wound would heal over perfectly in a short time.
"The origin of this species, or type, is still a matter of dispute. It
has been confused with _Pyrus pashia_ of northern India, from which
species it is very distinct. _Pyrus variolosa_ produces medium sized,
pear-shaped fruits, which have a persistent calyx. It is possible that
this is not a distinct species, but a hybrid. If this should prove to
be the case, it probably will not come true to type from seeds. This
matter will be determined by a study of the seedlings of this type.
If this does not come true to type from seeds, the seedlings may be
of little value for root stocks. If this should prove to be the case,
it will, nevertheless, be of value as a stock for top-working, when
propagated by budding or grafting on some other root system."