¥ M. g. 1 sylvhtris Mill. Dict. No. 1. — Spiny. F ruit small. It loses
Its spines in a state of cultivation.
¥ M g. 2 st7-icta Dec., Ait. Ilo rt. Kew. ii. p. 172., Dod. Pempt. SOI.—
bpmeless. Leaves doubly serrated.
^ p ec., Ait. Hort. Kew. ii. p. 172., Du Ham. Arb. Fr. i.
t. 3 .— 1 hornless. Leaves nearly entire. Fruit, in many instances
abortive of seeds.
In the Hortlcdlural Society's Frnit Catalogue, the following four culti.
vated sorts are given, which may be considered as artificial varieties : —
1. Blake s large-fruited Medlar.
2. Dutch Medlar. — Fruit the largest of any.
3. NotfmflMm, or common, ilfcd/nr. — Fruit obovate, middle size, and of
the best quality: the only sort worth cultivating for its fruit in
England.
4. The stoneless Medlar. — F ruit small, and of little merit.
^ The fruit of the medlar is not eaten till in a state of incipient decay, when
It IS very agreeable to some palates; though it is, as DuHamel observes,
more nn frmt de fatitame, than one of utility. A number of trees of tho dif-
fo e n t varieties may be seen in the orchard of the Horticultural Society’s
Garden, where they have taken very picturesque shapes.
S 2. M . Sm F tiu j Dec. Smith’s. Medlar.
Identification. Dec. Prod., 2. p. 633.; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 605.
Synonymes. M. grandiflCira Smith Exot. Bot. 1. p. 33. ; M. lob^ta Pair. Hook, in Bot f
Spec. Char., f r . Leaves oblong, elliptic, serrated, pubescent on the nerves
beneath. Flowers usually solitary. {Doris Mill.) A deciduous tree witli
Ç.'frota®'' branches. Native country unknown. Cultivated in
J?-' u 15 ft. to 20 ft. Flowers white ; May and June. Fruit
reddish brown ; ripe in October.
As hardy as the common medlar, and well deserving a place in ornamental
plantations for the beauty of its flowers, which are produced in great nro-
tusion. The general aspect and habit of the tree are those of a Cratæ'gus ■
and, indeed It is by many persons considered as more properly belonging ti
tliat genus than to Aiespilus. ^
G e n u s X X .
PY'RUS Lindl. T h e P e a r T r e e , Lin. Syst. Icosândria Di-Pentag/nia.
Identification. Lindl. Lin. Soc. T r., 13. p. 97. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 633. ; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 605.
Synonymes. P ÿ ru s 3/àlus, and Sórbus, Tourn. ; P ÿ ru s and Sorbus L iii. \ Pyróphorum and Apy-
rópliorura Neck.
Gen. Char. Calyx with an urceolate tube, and a 5-lobed limb. Petals
roundish. Styles usually 5, rarely 2 or 3. Pome closed, 5-ceilcd. Puia-
vien cartilaginous. Seeds 2 in each cell. Testa cartilaginous. (Doris Mill.)
Leaves simple, alternate, stipulate, deciduous, or sometimes sub-evergreen
; entire, serrated, or pinnately divided. Flowers numerous, in
cymes. Bracteas subulate, deciduous.
Low trees, and some shrubs ; almost all deciduous ; natives of Europe,
Asia, and North America. Some of them are in great estimation throughout
the world for their fruit ; and others are cultivated chiefly for their flowers.
Under the genus Pÿrus, botanists have lately united the Linnæan genera
Pÿrus and 5órbiis, together with several species formerly included under
ilfes|)ilus, Cratoe'gus, and other genera.
Some of the species of P ÿ ru s are, and have been for ages, the most universally
cultivated of all ligneous plants ; the apple and the pear being highly
esteemed fruits, both in the temperate and transition zones of both hemispheres.
These, and all the species of the genus, are propagated by grafting
on the wild varieties of each division.
§ 1. Pyróphorum Dec.
Sect. Char. Petals spreading, flat. Styles 5, distinct. Pome more or less
top-shaped, or subglobose, without a concavity at the base. Pedicels simple,
umbeled. Leaves simple, not glanded. {Dec. Prod., ii. p. 633.) This section
comprehends all the pears, properly so called.
Î 1. P . c o m m u 'n i s L. The common Pear Tree.
Identification, iiiiin. Sp., 6SC. ; Dec. P rod., 2. p. 633. ; Don’s Mill.,2. p. 60.5.
Synonymes. P. .4'cliras Gcertn. Fruct. 2. p. 44. t. 87. ; P. sylvéstris Dod. Pempt. 800. ; Pyraster
Ray Syn. 4.52. ; Poirier, Pr. \ gemeine Birne, or Birnebaum, Gcr. ; Pero domestico, Ital. ; Pera,
Span. ; and Gruschka, Russiaii.
Engravings. Blackw. Herb., t. 4.53.3 Eng. Bot., t. 1784. ; the plate of this species in Arb. Brit.,
1st edit., vol. vi. ; and out fig. 761.
Spec. Char., Branches and buds glabrous. Leaves ovate, serrated, glabrous
upon both surfaces. Flowers corymbose. (Dec. Prod.) A deciduous
tree of the middle size. Europe, in woods and waste j)hices, from the east
of Russia to the west o f England. Height 30 ft. to 50 ft. rarely 70 ft. Iu cultivation
from time immemorial. Flowers white, never tinged with pink like
those of the apple ; April and May. Fruit in a wild state green, turning
yellowish in November. Decaying leaves rich yellow or reddish yellow.
DeCandolle mentions two forms of the wild species, comparatively
permanent ; to which we have added several others, the result of cultivation,
and which are more or less accidental or temporary. To these we
might have subjoined a class of wild peaf.s with hoary leaves, such as P.
nivalis, P . salicifòlia, &c., which we consider as varieties, or races, though
commonly treated as species ; but we have preferred giving them afterwards
as distinct sorts.
1? P. c. 1 A'(.7/ras Wallr. Sched. p. 213.— Spiny. Leaves woolly when
young, but afterwards glabrous; the disk ovate, acuminate, entire ;
the petiole long. Tube of the calyx woolly when young, afterwards
beco’ming glabrous. Pome witii its basal part long.
E E