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162 The Trees <strong>of</strong> Great Britain and Ireland<br />

Lord Ducie has brought plants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se to Tortworth, where he grows <strong>the</strong>m under<br />

<strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> Pyrus hybrida.<br />

REMARKABLE TREES<br />

This species appears to be now rarely planted, except in botanical gardens.<br />

The best specimen which we have seen occurs at Syon (var. scandicd). I n 1904 it<br />

measured 48 feet in height by 7 feet 10 inches in girth, with a bole <strong>of</strong> 7 feet, dividing<br />

into 8 large branches, and forming a wide-spreading crown <strong>of</strong> foliage, about 50 yards<br />

in circumference (Plate 50). Ano<strong>the</strong>r fine tree is growing at Livermere Park, Bury<br />

St. Edmunds, Suffolk, specimens and particulars <strong>of</strong> which have been kindly sent to<br />

us by Mr. Stiling. It is now (1905) 45 feet high by 8 feet 5 inches in girth, with a<br />

bole <strong>of</strong> 8 feet dividing into 12 main branches, <strong>the</strong> diameter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> spread <strong>of</strong> foliage<br />

being 45 feet. This tree was reported 1 in 1889 to have been 42 feet high by 8 feet<br />

3 inches in girth. In August 1905 it was covered with fruit. (H. J. E.)<br />

There is a fine specimen at Stowe, near Buckingham, growing near <strong>the</strong> bridge<br />

over <strong>the</strong> lake in sandy soil, which measures about 45 feet high by 7 feet 9 in. in<br />

girth, with a 7 feet bole. It was loaded with fruit in August 1905.<br />

At Wykeham Abbey, <strong>the</strong> Yorkshire seat <strong>of</strong> Viscount Downe, <strong>the</strong>re is a fine<br />

tree on <strong>the</strong> lawn, about 40 feet high, spreading from <strong>the</strong> ground, where it measures<br />

10 feet 8 inches in girth, into a large and well-shaped head.<br />

This tree is planted in some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> parks and gardens in London, and grows<br />

well at <strong>the</strong> Botanic Gardens in Regent's Park. I am informed by Mr. A. Stratford,<br />

Superintendent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Corporation Park <strong>of</strong> Blackburn, that it makes a good shade<br />

tree in that smoky town.<br />

1 Garden, 1 889, xxxvi. 342. Note by J. C. Tallack, who named <strong>the</strong> tree Pyrus pinnatijida.<br />

Pyrus 163<br />

PYRUS PINNATIFIDA, BASTARD MOUNTAIN ASH<br />

Pyrus pinnatifida, Ehrhart, " Plantag." 22, ex Beitrage zur Naturkunde, vi. 93 (1791); Louden,<br />

Arb. et Frut. Brit. i i. 915 (1838); N. E. Brown, in Eng. Bot. iii. cd. Suppl. 168 (1892); Card.<br />

Chron. xx. 493, fig. 78 (1883).<br />

Pyrus semipinnata, Roth, En. PI. Phan. in Germ. i. sect. post. 438 (1827).<br />

Pyrusfennica, Babington, Man. Eng. Bot. ed. 3, p. in (1851).<br />

Sorbus hybrida, Linnaeus, Sp. PI. 684 (1762); Schiibeler, Viridarium norvegicum, ii. p. 476.<br />

Sorbus fennica, Fries, Summa Veg. Scand. 4 2 (1846).<br />

A species <strong>of</strong> hybrid origin, occurring as a small tree, which may attain 50 feet<br />

in height, with smooth, grey bark. Leaves variable in shape, mostly pinnate or<br />

deeply cut at <strong>the</strong> base, with 1-4 pairs <strong>of</strong> segments more or less separate ; <strong>the</strong> upper<br />

part cut into deep sharp-too<strong>the</strong>d lobes; green and glabrous above, grey tomentose<br />

below. Flowers white in loose corymbs; styles 3, woolly at <strong>the</strong> base; fruit small,<br />

globular, coral red, and resembling that <strong>of</strong> Pyrus Auctiparia.<br />

VARIETIES<br />

This form, <strong>the</strong> parents <strong>of</strong> which are P. Auciiparia and P. intermedia, must be<br />

carefully distinguished (see p. 143) from Pyrus hybrida, Moench, a shrub <strong>of</strong> different<br />

origin.<br />

Pyrus Thuringiaca, Use,1 a cross between P. Auctiparia and P. Aria, is<br />

generally included under P. pinnatifida, from which it differs only in <strong>the</strong> leaf,<br />

whiter beneath, having its upper part lobulate or dentate and not deeply lobed.<br />

Sorbus arranensis, Hedlund, 2 is <strong>the</strong> name given to a form occurring in <strong>the</strong> Isle<br />

<strong>of</strong> Arran, which is intermediate between P. pinnatifida and P. intermedia, and closely<br />

resembles <strong>the</strong> latter, differing only in <strong>the</strong> deeper and more irregular lobing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

leaf.<br />

The hybrid forms, which are intermediate between P. pinnatifida and P.<br />

Aucuparia, are generally regarded as varieties (var. satureifolia^ and var. dectirretis 4)<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> latter species, and will be mentioned in our account <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mountain ash.<br />

IDENTIFICATION<br />

Pyrus pinnatifida and <strong>the</strong> intermediate hybrids are variable and inconstant in<br />

<strong>the</strong> shape <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> leaf. There is no difficulty, however, in <strong>the</strong>ir identification, if it be<br />

noted that hybridity may be suspected in all cases where <strong>the</strong> leaves vary on <strong>the</strong><br />

one hand from <strong>the</strong> regularly pinnate separate leaflets <strong>of</strong> Pyrus Auctiparia, and on<br />

<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r from <strong>the</strong> regular uniform lobing or serration <strong>of</strong> Pyrus intermedia or Pyrus<br />

1 1-n.Jahresb. Bot. Carl. it. Mis. Berlin, i. 232 (1881).<br />

2 In Kon. Sv. Veten. Akad. Hand!. 1 901-2, p. 60.<br />

3 Koch, Dendrologie, \. 1 89 (1869).<br />

4 Koehne, Deutsche Dendrologie, 248 (1893). This variety is commonly known as Pyrus lanugiiwsa, Hurt.

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