Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Pyrus
PEAR


Higher Taxonomy
Family: RosaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: ROSE FAMILY
Habit: Annual to tree, glandular or not. Leaf: simple to palmately or pinnately compound, generally alternate; stipules free to fused (0), persistent to deciduous. Inflorescence: cyme, raceme, panicle, cluster, or flowers 1; bractlets on pedicel ("pedicel bractlets") generally 0--3(many), subtended by bract or generally not. Flower: generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium free or fused to ovary, saucer- to funnel-shaped, subtending bractlets ("hypanthium bractlets") 0--5, alternate sepals; sepals generally 5; petals generally 5, free; stamens (0,1)5--many, anther pollen sacs generally 2; pistils (0)1--many, simple or compound, ovary superior to inferior, styles 1--5. Fruit: 1--many per flower, achene (fleshy-coated or not), follicle, drupe, or pome with generally papery core, occasionally drupe-like with 1--5 stones. Seed: generally 1--5 (per fruit, not per flower).
Genera In Family: 110 genera, +- 3000 species: worldwide, especially temperate; many cultivated for ornament, fruit, especially Cotoneaster, Fragaria, Malus, Prunus, Pyracantha, Rosa, Rubus. Note: Number of teeth is per leaf or leaflet, not per side of leaf or leaflet, except in Drymocallis.
eFlora Treatment Author: Daniel Potter & Barbara Ertter, family description, key to genera, treatment of genera by Daniel Potter, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Daniel Potter, Thomas J. Rosatti.
Pyrus
Habit: Tree [(shrub)], thorny or not. Leaf: simple, toothed (entire). Inflorescence: few-flowered clusters at ends of short-shoots; pedicel bractlets generally 2--3, deciduous. Flower: hypanthium bractlets 0; stamens 20--30; ovary inferior, chambers 2--5, 2-ovuled, styles 2--5, +- free. Fruit: pome, generally +- obovoid; flesh gritty from stone cells.
Species In Genus: +- 25 species: northern temperate. Etymology: (Latin: pear) Note: Pyrus calleryana Dcne. (callery pear) possibly naturalized in California.
Unabridged Note: Pyrus calleryana Dcne. (callery pear), distinguished from Pyrus communis by its small fruits and curved stipules, frequently escapes from cultivation in eastern United States. In California, collections from Sacramento Co. are likely from rootstocks of abandoned pear trees, but a collection from Butte Co. is of escaped saplings, suggesting potential for more widespread escape in California.
Jepson eFlora Author: Michael A. Vincent
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

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Citation for this treatment: Michael A. Vincent 2012, Pyrus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=11260, accessed on April 25, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 25, 2024.