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, 2⅛ in. wide, thick, stiff; apex taper-pointed; margin sharply and coarsely serrate; teeth tipped with small, reddish-brown glands; petiole 1¾ 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, 13⁄16 in. across, white, in dense clusters, 13 buds in a cluster; pedicels 15⁄16 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