Tree of the Week

Week 11 – Pyrus communis; Common Pear

This wild pear produces small sour fruit with a gritty texture – the pears we eat are a related variety. Pear trees can be found in hedgerows and field margins and are sometimes domestic ‘escapes’ or remnants of old orchards. This tree is deciduous, 8-20 metres tall, somewhat spiny and in flower now, as are most domestic pears in our gardens and allotments. The blossom, below, is simpler than most cherries, with five white petals and reddish stamens. Leaves, also below, with fruit, are slightly glossy and with a serrated edge. The other wild pear, Pyrus pyraster, now uncommon, is similar but with more spines along the twigs, and the fruit is smaller and even less edible. For a good ornamental pear tree, check out Pyrus salicifolia (meaning leaves like a Salix – ‘willow leaved’) pendula and Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’, both of which blossom well and have distinctive forms.

Wikipedia has a good article about Perry, here.

Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula'

     
          

             Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer'