Finally, the cold weather is over, and everything is in bloom. I pass a gorgeous flowering pear tree while walking around a residential pond. Pears are one of those tasty fruits that you never get tired of. Crisp, juicy and sweet — there is really no better snack. They can be just a little messy to eat. But, if you catch them at the peak of ripeness, the flavor is unsurpassed. I recently edited a cookbook which had recipes for ginger-spiced peppered pears, pear honey preserves and pear mincemeat. They really made my mouth water. I have eaten a tossed salad with pears, pear cobbler/crisp, poached pears, pear cake, pear tart and pear bread — all delicious. Plus, I love the slightly alcoholic pear cider. The flowering pear trees appear all over town and even line one street. Their fresh blooms and pure white color make me feel reborn and give me hope that the pandemic will end soon. Let’s learn more about pears.
According to Wikipedia, pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees. The tree is medium-sized and native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of Europe, North Africa and Asia. Pear wood is one of the preferred materials in the manufacture of high-quality woodwind instruments and furniture. About 3,000 known varieties of pears are grown worldwide, which vary in both shape and taste. The fruit is consumed fresh, canned, as juice or dried.
Description The pear is native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of the Old World, from Western Europe and North Africa east across Asia. It is a medium-sized tree, reaching 33–56 feet tall, often with a tall, narrow crown; a few species are shrubby. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, 1–4 1/2 inches long, glossy green on some species, densely silvery-hairy in some others; leaf shape varies from broad oval to narrow lanceolate. Most pears are deciduous, but one or two species in Southeast Asia are evergreen. Most are cold-hardy, withstanding temperatures as low as −13 to −40 °F in winter, except for the evergreen species, which only tolerate temperatures down to about 5 °F.
The flowers are white, rarely tinted yellow or pink, 1–1 1/2 inches diameter, and have five petals. Like that of the related apple, the pear fruit is a pome, in most wild species 1/2–1 1/2 inches diameter, but in some cultivated forms up to 7 inches long and 3 inches broad; the shape varies in most species from oblate or globose, to the classic pyriform "pear shape" of the European pear with an elongated basal portion and a bulbous end. The fruit is composed of the receptacle or upper end of the flower stalk — the so-called calyx tube — greatly dilated. Enclosed within its cellular flesh is the true fruit: five cartilaginous carpels, known colloquially as the "core." From the upper rim of the receptacle are given off the five sepals, the five petals and the very numerous stamens.
Pears and apples cannot always be distinguished by the form of the fruit; some pears look very much like some apples e.g., the nashi pear. One major difference is that the flesh of pear fruit contains stone cells.
History Pear clutivation in cool, temperate climates extends to the remotest antiquity, and evidence exists of its use as a food since prehistoric times. Many traces have been found in prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zürich, Switzerland. Pears were cultivated in China as early as 2000 BC. An article on pear tree cultivation in Spain is brought down in Ibn al-‘Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, “Book on Agriculture.”
The word "pear" or its equivalent occurs in all the Celtic languages, while in Slavic and other dialects, differing appellations, still referring to the same thing, are found — a diversity and multiplicity of nomenclature, which led Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle to infer a very ancient cultivation of the tree from the shores of the Caspian to those of the Atlantic.
The pear was also cultivated by the Romans, who ate the fruits raw or cooked, just like apples. Pliny’s “Natural History” recommended stewing them with honey and noted three dozen varieties. The Roman cookbook “De re coquinaria” has a recipe for a spiced, stewed-pear patina or soufflé.
A certain race of pears, with white down on the undersurface of its leaves, is supposed to have originated from P. nivalis, and the fruit is chiefly used in France in the manufacture of perry or cider. Other small-fruited pears, distinguished by their early ripening and apple-like fruit, may be referred to as P. cordata, a species found wild in western France and southwestern England.
The genus is thought to have originated in present-day Western China in the foothills of the Tian Shan — a mountain range of Central Asia — and to have spread to the north and south along mountain chains, evolving into a diverse group of over 20 widely recognized primary species. The enormous number of varieties of the cultivated European pear are without doubt derived from one or two wild subspecies widely distributed throughout Europe, and sometimes forming part of the natural vegetation of the forests. Court accounts of Henry III of England record pears shipped from La Rochelle-Normande and presented to the king by the sheriffs of the City of London. The French names of pears grown in English medieval gardens suggest that their reputation, at the least, was French; a favored variety in the accounts was named for Saint Rule or Regul', Bishop of Senlis.
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 forms.
Some major recognized species Pyrus calleryana or Callery pear
Pyrus calleryana or the Callery pear, is a species of pear tree native to China and Vietnam, in the family Rosaceae. It is most commonly known for its cultivar “Bradford,” widely planted throughout the United States and increasingly regarded as an invasive species.
Pyrus calleryana is deciduous, growing 16 to 26 feet tall, often with a conical to rounded crown. The leaves are oval, 1 1/2 to 3 inches long, glossy dark green above, on long pedicels that make them flash their slightly paler undersides in a breeze. The white, five-petaled flowers are about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. They are produced abundantly in early spring, before the leaves expand fully.
The inedible fruits of the Callery pear are small and hard, almost woody, until softened by frost, after which they are readily taken by birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. In summer, the shining foliage is dark green and very smooth, and in autumn the leaves commonly turn brilliant colors, ranging from yellow and orange to more commonly red, pink, purple and bronze. However, since the color often develops very late in autumn, the leaves may be killed by a hard frost before full color can develop.
Callery pears are remarkably resistant to disease or fireblight though some cultivars such as “Bradford” are particularly susceptible to storm damage and are regularly disfigured or even killed by strong winds, ice storms, heavy snow or limb loss due to their naturally rapid growth rate.
The species is named after the Italian-French sinologue Joseph-Marie Callery (1810–1862) who sent specimens of the tree to Europe from China.
Pyrus cordata or Plymouth pear Pyrus cordata, the Plymouth pear,] is a rare wild species of pear belonging to the family Rosaceae. It gets its name from the city of Plymouth in Devon, where it was originally found in 1870. The Plymouth pear was one of the British trees to be funded under the English Natures Species Recovery Programme. It is a small tree, that grows in hedgerows or at the edge of woods. The Plymouth pear is considered to be either a subspecies of Pyrus pyraster (European wild pear) or a distinct species. It is one of the rarest trees in the UK, and it is protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act and seeds have been deposited at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank.
Pyrus nivalis or yellow pear Pyrus nivalis, commonly known as yellow pear, is a species of tree in the family Rosaceae that grows naturally from southeast Europe to western Asia. Like most pears, its fruit can be eaten raw or cooked; it has a mild sour taste. The plant is very colorful and may grow to a height of up to 10 meters and a width of about 8 meters. It is a very hardy plant that is able to withstand a small supply of water or very high or low temperatures. It may hybridize with other pears, producing, for example, Pyrus austriaca in a cross with Pyrus pyraster.
Pyrus pashia or wild Himalayan pear Pyrus pashia, the wild Himalayan pear, is a small to medium size deciduous tree of the small and oval-shaped crown with ovate, finely toothed leaves, attractive white flowers with red anthers and small pear-like fruits. It is a fruit bearing tree that is native to southern Asia. Locally, it is known by many names such as batangi in Urdu, tangi in Kashmiri, mahal mol in Hindi and passi in Nepal.
Pyrus pyraster or European wild pear Pyrus pyraster, also called European wild pear, is a species of pear of the family Rosaceae. This wild pear and Pyrus caucasica are thought to be the ancestors of the cultivated European pear. Both the wild pears are interfertile with domesticated pears. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish Pyrus pyraster from a common pear. Pyrus pyraster can reach an age of 100 to 150 years.
Cultivars The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit:
· Beth
· Beurré Hardy
· Beurré Superfin
· Concorde
· Conference
· Doyenné du Comice
· Joséphine de Malines
·
The purely decorative cultivar P. salicifolia ‘Pendula,’ with pendulous branches and silvery leaves, has also won the award.
Production In 2018, world production of pears was 23.7 million tons, led by China with 68% of the total.
Storage Pears may be stored at room temperature until ripe. Pears are ripe when the flesh around the stem gives to gentle pressure. Ripe pears are optimally stored refrigerated, uncovered in a single layer, where they have a shelf life of 2 to 3 days. Pears ripen at room temperature. Ripening is accelerated by the gas ethylene. If pears are placed next to bananas in a fruit bowl, the ethylene emitted by the banana causes the pears to ripen. Refrigeration will slow further ripening. According to Pear Bureau Northwest, most varieties show little color change as they ripen, though the skin on Bartlett pears changes from green to yellow as they ripen.
Uses Pears are consumed fresh, canned, as juice and dried. The juice can also be used in jellies and jams, usually in combination with other fruits, including berries. Fermented pear juice is called perry or pear cider and is made in a way that is similar to how cider is made from apples. The culinary or cooking pear is green but dry and hard, and only edible after several hours of cooking. Two Dutch cultivars are "Gieser Wildeman" (a sweet variety) and "Saint Remy" (slightly sour).
Pear wood is one of the preferred materials in the manufacture of high-quality woodwind instruments and furniture and was used for making the carved blocks for woodcuts. It is also used for wood carving and as a firewood to produce aromatic smoke for smoking meat or tobacco. Pear wood is valued for kitchen spoons, scoops and stirrers, as it does not contaminate food with color, flavor or smell, and resists warping and splintering despite repeated soaking and drying cycles. Lincoln describes it as "a fairly tough, very stable wood... (used for) carving... brushbacks, umbrella handles, measuring instruments such as set squares and T-squares... recorders... violin and guitar fingerboards and piano keys... decorative veneering." Pear wood is the favored wood for architect's rulers because it does not warp. It is similar to the wood of its relative, the apple tree and used for many of the same purposes.
Cultural references Pears grow in the sublime orchard of Alcinous in “Odyssey vii”: "Therein grow trees, tall and luxuriant, pears and pomegranates and apple trees with their bright fruit, and sweet figs, and luxuriant olives. Of these the fruit perishes not nor fails in winter or in summer, but lasts throughout the year."
A partridge in a pear tree is the first gift in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” cumulative song. This verse is repeated twelve times in the song.
The pear tree was an object of particular veneration as was the walnut in the tree worship of the Nakh or Vainakh peoples of the North Caucasus, the best-known of the Vainakh peoples today being the Chechens of Chechnya. Pear and walnut trees were held to be the sacred abodes of beneficent spirits in the pre-Islamic Chechen religion and, for this reason, it was forbidden to fell them.
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