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pear
(redirected from pear tree)

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pear, name for a fruit tree of the genus Pyrus of the family Rosaceae (rose rose, common name for some members of the Rosaceae, a large family of herbs, shrubs, and trees distributed over most of the earth, and for plants of the genus Rosa, the true roses.
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 family) and for its fruit, a pome. The common pear (P. communis) is one of the earliest cultivated of fruit trees, both in its native W Asia and in Europe. Most of the pear strains grown for their sweet and juicy fruit are varieties of P. communis or of its hybrids with other species of Pyrus—usually P. pyrifolia, known as the Japanese, Chinese, or sand pear and indigenous to China. The main use of the sand pear today is as a rootstock in pear orchards; the related quince quince, shrub or small tree of the Asian genera Chaenomeles and Cydonia of the family Rosaceae (rose family). The common quince (Cydonia oblonga
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 is used for the same purpose. Pear strains with fruit of really good eating quality were not developed until the 18th and 19th cent. in N Europe, whence almost all the present successful varieties (e.g., the Bartlett and Seckel) grown in the United States (chiefly on the Pacific coast and in the Great Lakes area) were directly imported. European production is far greater—especially in Germany, France, and Switzerland, where much of the crop is used for making pear cider (perry). Pears are also cultivated on a large scale in Japan, Turkey, Argentina, and Australia. They are usually sold fresh or canned; some are dried. Several varieties of the common pear and of other species—e.g., the small, white-foliaged snow pear (P. nivalis)—are cultivated as ornamentals, and pear wood, hard and dense, is used to a limited extent in cabinetmaking. The pear tree and its fruit are similar to the closely related apple apple, any tree (and its fruit) of the genus Malus of the family Rosaceae (rose family). Apples were formerly considered species of the pear genus Pyrus, with which they share the characteristic pome fruit. The common apple (M.
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 (considered by some botanists to be of the same genus) in characteristics and in method of cultivation, but the tree is somewhat less hardy and the fruit more perishable. Pear or fire blight is the tree's most serious disease; it is also attacked by several insect pests. Pears are classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta , division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
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, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

pear

Enlarge picture
Pear (Pyrus communis)
(credit: Grant Heilman)
Any of several species of trees of the genus Pyrus, especially P. communis, of the rose family, which is one of the most important fruit trees in the world and is cultivated in all temperate-zone countries of both hemispheres. The thousands of varieties include Bartlett (by far the most widely grown), Beurre Bosc, and Beurre d'Anjou. In the U.S., much of the crop is canned; in Europe, pears are more commonly eaten fresh or used for perry (fermented pear juice). The tree is taller and more upright than the apple tree; pear fruits are sweeter and softer than apples. Hard cells (grit, or stone cells) dot the flesh.


pear
1. a widely cultivated rosaceous tree, Pyrus communis, having white flowers and edible fruits
2. the sweet gritty-textured juicy fruit of this tree, which has a globular base and tapers towards the apex
3. the wood of this tree, used for making furniture

pear [per]
(botany)
Any of several tree species of the genusPyrusin the order Rosales, cultivated for their fruit, a pome that is wider at the apical end and has stone cells throughout the flesh.

pear
symbol of love and tenderness. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 176]
See : Love


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