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Pyrys pyraster - the Wild European Pear
The European Pear Pyrus communis is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe and southwest Asia. The European Pear is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most orchard pear cultivars grown in Europe, North America and Australia are developed.
The European pear is thought to be decended from two species of wild pear, categorized as P. pyraster and P. caucasica, which are interfertile with the domesticated species. Archeological evidence shows that pears "were collected from the wild long before their introduction into cultivation," according to Zohary and Hopf.[1] Although they point to finds of pears in sites in Neolithic and Bronze Age European sites, "reliable information on pear cultivation first appears in the works of the Greek and the Roman writers. Theophrastus, Cato the Elder and Pliny the Elder all present information about the cultivation and grafting of pears.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Pear
Two other species of pear, the Nashi Pear Pyrus pyrifolia and the Chinese white pear [bai li], Pyrus ×bretschneideri, are more widely used in eastern Asia.
A pear is a tree of the genus Pyrus and the juicy fruit of that tree, edible in some species. The English word pear is probably from Common West Germanic *pera, probably a loanword of Vulgar Latin pira, the plural of pirum, which is itself of unknown origin. See also Peorđ. The place name Perry can indicate the historical presence of pear trees. The term "pyriform" is sometimes used to describe something which is "pear-shaped".
The pear is classified within Maloideae, a subfamily within Rosaceae. The apple (Malus ×domestica) which it resembles in floral structure, is also a member of this subfamily. In both cases the so-called fruit is composed of the receptacle or upper end of the flower-stalk (the so-called calyx tube) greatly dilated, and enclosing within its cellular flesh the five cartilaginous carpels which constitute the "core" and are really the true fruit. From the upper rim of the receptacle are given off the five sepals, the five petals, and the very numerous stamens. Another major relative of the pear (and thus the apple) is the quince.
The form of the pear and of the apple respectively, although usually characteristic enough, is not by itself sufficient to distinguish them, for there are pears which cannot by form alone be distinguished from apples, and apples which cannot by superficial appearance be recognized from pears. A major distinction is the occurrence in the tissue of the fruit, or beneath the rind, of clusters of lignified cells known as "grit" in the case of the pear, while in the apple no such formation of woody cells takes place. The appearance of the tree—the bark, the foliage, the type of inflorescence (i.e. form of the flower cluster) —is, however, usually quite characteristic in the two species.
The genus is thought to have originated in present-day western China in the foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains, and to have spread to the east and west along mountain chains, evolving into a diverse group of over 20 widely recognized primary species. The cultivated European pear (Pyrus communis), whose number is enormous, are without doubt derived from one or two wild species (P. pyraster and P. caucasica), widely distributed throughout Europe, and sometimes forming part of the natural vegetation of the forests. In England, where the pear is sometimes considered wild, there is always the doubt that it may not really be so, but the produce of some seed of a cultivated tree deposited by birds or otherwise, which has degenerated into wild spine-bearing trees. Asian species with medium to large edible fruit include P. pyrifolia, P. ussuriensis, P. ×bretschneideri, P. ×sinkiangensis, and P. pashia. Other small-fruited species are frequently used as rootstocks for the cultivated species.
The cultivation of the pear extends to the remotest antiquity. Traces of it have been found in the Swiss lake-dwellings; it is mentioned in the oldest Greek writings, and was cultivated by the Romans. The word "pear" or its equivalent occurs in all the Celtic languages, while in Slavonic and other dialects different appellations, but still referring to the same thing, are found–a diversity and multiplicity of nomenclature which led Alphonse de Candolle to infer a very ancient cultivation of the tree from the shores of the Caspian to those of the Atlantic. A certain race of pears, with white down on the under surface of their leaves, is supposed to have originated from P. nivalis, and their fruit is chiefly used in France in the manufacture of Perry (see Cider). Other small-fruited pears, distinguished by their precocity and apple-like fruit, may be referred to P. cordata, a species found wild in western France, and in Devonshire and Cornwall. Pears have been cultivated in China for approximately 3000 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pear |
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