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166 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland
PYRUS ARIA, WHITEBEAM
Fyrus Aria, Ehrhart, Britrlige zur Naturkunde, iv. 20 (1789); Loudon, Arb. et Frttt. Brit. ii.
910 (1838).
Crattzgus Aria, Linnseus, Sf. PI. 4 75 (1753).
Sorties Aria, Crantz, Stirp. Aiist. ii. t. 2, f. 2 (1762).
Aria nivea, H ost, /7. Aust. ii. 8 (1813).
A tree in woods and on good soil attaining a height of 40 to 50 feet, and rarely
70 feet in height; but in rocky and mountainous situations usually remaining
shrubby. Bark smooth and grey, becoming slightly fissured in old trees. Leaves
stalked, oval or obovate, rounded, cordate, or cuneate at the base, sharp or obtuse
at the apex, biserrate or slightly lobulate with teeth, the lobules largest towards
the apex of the leaf; green and glabrous when adult above, but always snowy-
white tomentose beneath ; nerves, 8-12 pairs, very prominent on both surfaces.
Flowers with an unpleasant odour, white, in loose corymbs; the peduncle,
receptacle, calyx, and corolla, white tomentose; styles 2, free, pubescent at the base.
Fruit globose or ovoid, ^ inch in diameter, shining red with a few brown dots,
tomentose at the base and apex; flesh scanty, sweetish acid in flavour.
IDENTIFICATION
In summer the leaves, snowy white underneath and with prominent nerves, are
a sure guide. The leaves of Aria from a wild specimen growing at Gosford, Kent
(Fig. 18); of var. rupicola from a wild specimen from north-west Lancashire (Fig.
13); of var. salicifolia (Fig. 16) and var. Decaisneana (Fig. 8), both from specimens
cultivated at Kew, are shown on Plates 43 and 44. In winter the following
characters are available, as shown in Plate 45 :
Twigs: long shoots round, shining brown, glabrous except for a little pubescence
near the tip, marked with scattered wart-like lenticels. Leaf-scars set obliquely
on prominent leaf-cushions, crescentic, with three bundle traces. Buds ovoid, conical-
pointed, shining, and somewhat viscid; terminal larger, side-buds coming off at an
acute angle. Bud-scales glued together, strongly keeled, glabrous on the surface,
densely long ciliate in margin. Short shoots ringed, generally glabrous, and
ending in a terminal bud. Viscid buds occur also in Pyrus Sorbus, which is, how
ever, very distinct in its five-dotted scars and glabrous scales.
VARIETIES
Some authors take Pyrus Aria in a wide sense, and under it group Aria
proper, rupicola, latifolia, scandica, etc. as sub-species. Most of these, as being
readily distinguishable by many characters, have been considered by us as distinct
species. Taking Pyrus Aria in a narrow sense, as comprising forms with leaves
Pyrus 167
snowy white beneath, it exhibits a great variety of forms in the wild state, explained
by its wide geographical distribution and its occurrence on different soils and in
different situations. Moreover, various horticultural varieties have been produced.
The type has been described above; the following is a list of the most important
varieties:
1. Var. rupicola? Differs from the type in the leaves having fewer nerves,
generally 7 (5-9) pairs, less prominent; obovate-oblong in shape, widest above the
middle, lobulate above, with the tomentum ultimately becoming slightly grey. Fruit
smaller, f inch diameter, carmine-scarlet. This variety occurs always on limestone
rocks, and is recorded from many stations in the British Isles. It is probably a
form due to poor soil and exposure to wind, and other uncongenial conditions.
2. Var. grceca, Boissier. 2 A shrub occurring in Spain, Albania, Greece, Syria,
and Asia Minor. Leaves round, thick, almost leathery in consistence, nerves 6-10
pairs, broad, cuneate at the base, lobulate, with large teeth in the upper two-thirds.
This form is also known as Sorbus cretica, Fritsch, and Aria grteca, Decaisne.
3. Var. flabem/alia? Leaves orbicular, cuneate, or rounder at the base, margin
with large incisions, sharply toothed, nerves 3-5 pairs. South - eastern Europe
and Asia Minor.
4. Var. Decaisneana, Rehder. 4 Leaves large, 4-6 inches long by 2-3^ broad,
elliptic or oblong, narrow or acuminate at the apex, rounded or subcordate at the
base, serrate in almost the whole margin with sharp teeth; nerves 12-14 pairs;
petiole channelled above, nearly an inch long. Flowers first white, then becoming
pinkish ; styles glabrous. Fruit purplish, ellipsoid, crowned by the persistent hairy
sepals. This tree is of unknown origin ; it has been said to be Himalayan, but I am
not aware on what authority. It closely resembles Pyrus lanata from that region.
5. Var. sinensis. Leaves narrow, lanceolate or ovate, with acuminate apex
and cuneate base; crenately serrate. A series of forms occur in the moun
tains of Hupeh in China, where the trees are common at high elevations, and vary
in size from 10 to 40 feet in height. Seeds were sent home by Wilson to Messrs.
Veitch in 1901, and seedlings, very beautiful in foliage and vigorous in growth, are
now growing at Coombe Wood.
6. Var. salicifolia. Leaves narrow, ovate-lanceolate, doubly serrate in margin,
with long petioles. Origin unknown.
7. Certain horticultural varieties occur in which the leaves are variously
coloured, as lutescens, chrysopkylla, sulphurea.
8. Var. quercoides. Leaves regularly lobed with their edges bent upwards.
PYRUS HosTii, 5 Hort., may here be mentioned, as it occurs in cultivation and
1 Pyrus rupicola, Boswell Syme, Eng. Hot. ed. 3, t. 483.
2 Flora Orientalis, ii. 658. There is a form in south-east Europe called meriodionalis, which differs only slightly from
this variety.
3 Cratagusflabettifolia, Spach, Hist. Vfg. Phan. ii. 103.
4 Rehder in Cyclop. Am. Hort. iv. 1689 (1902). Aria Decaisneana, Lavallee, Arbor. Stgrcz. p. 51, t. 18. Pyrus
Decaisneana, Nicholson, Kew Hand-list of Trees and Shrubs, 1 87 (1894). Sorlnts Decaisneana, Zabel, Handbtich Laubholz-
Benenmmg, 1 99 (1903).
6 Figured in Garden, 1 881, xx. 376,