Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. 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.
Pyrus pyrifolia is a species of pear tree native to southern China and northern Indochina, and have been introduced to Korea, Japan and other parts of the world. The tree's edible fruit is known by many names, including Asian pear, Persian pear, Japanese pear, Chinese pear, Korean pear, Taiwanese pear, apple pear, zodiac pear, three-halves pear, papple, naspati and sand pear. Along with cultivars of P. × bretschneideri and P. ussuriensis, the fruit is also called the nashi pear. Cultivars derived from Pyrus pyrifolia are grown throughout East Asia, and in other countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Traditionally in East Asia the tree's flowers are a popular symbol of early spring, and it is a common sight in gardens and the countryside.
Pyrus × bretschneideri, the ya pear or pearple or Chinese white pear, is an interspecific hybrid species of pear native to North China, where it is widely grown for its edible fruit.
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' and its offensive odor, widely planted throughout the United States and increasingly regarded as an invasive species.
Pyrus communis, the common pear, is a species of pear native to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia.
Pyrus salicifolia is a species of pear, native to the Middle East. It is widely grown as an ornamental tree, almost always as a pendulous cultivar, and is called by various common names, including willow-leaved pear, weeping pear, and similar. The tree is deciduous and of comparatively small stature, rarely reaching 10–12 meters in height. The crown is rounded. It has pendulous, silvery foliage, superficially similar to a weeping willow. The flowers are large and pure white highlighted with black-tipped stamens although the buds are tipped with red. The small green fruits are inedible, being hard and astringent.
The Le Conte pear is a deciduous pear tree growing to 8m. It is not frost tender. The flowers are hermaphrodite and are pollinated by insects. The fruit is edible raw or cooked. The flesh resembles that of the Asian pear. The fruit can be eaten as soon as it is picked, and can store for several days to several months. It is usually cooked in pies and preserves. The fruit is up to 8cm long and 5cm wide. The pear is named after John Eatton Le Conte, who introduced it to Georgia in 1856.
The Williams' bon chrétien pear, commonly called the Williams pear, or the Bartlett pear in the United States and Canada.
Malus prunifolia is a species of crabapple tree known by the common names plumleaf crab apple, plum-leaved apple, pear-leaf crabapple, Chinese apple and Chinese crabapple. It is native to China, and is grown elsewhere for use as an ornamental tree or as rootstock. It reaches from between 3 and 8 meters tall and bears white flowers and yellow or red fruit.
Pyrus pyraster, also called European wild pear, is a species of pear of the family Rosaceae.
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 (Urdu), tangi (Kashmiri), mahal mol (Hindi) and passi (Nepal).
Pyrus bourgaeana, the Iberian pear, is a close relative of Pyrus communis L. The latter was domesticated about 2500 years ago. This small tree is widely distributed across the southern Iberian Peninsula and northern Morocco, where it coexists with four Pyrus species: P. communis L., P. cordata Dew., P. spinosa Forssk, and P. nivalis Jacq. Characteristics to discriminate these species are the width of fruit peduncle, petal size, leaf width and petiole length served to the taxa.
Pyrus cordata, the Heart-leaved pear or Plymouth pear, is a rare wild species of pear belonging to the family Rosaceae. It gets its name in Spanish, Portuguese and French from the shape of its leaves. In the UK, it is known as Plymouth Pear after 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 English Natures Species Recovery Programme.
Pyrus syriaca is a deciduous tree in the Rosaceae family. It is referred to by the common name Syrian pear. It is the only pear species which grows in the wild in Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Israel.
Pyrus ussuriensis, also known as the Ussurian pear, Harbin pear, and Manchurian pear, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae.
Pyrus elaeagrifolia, the oleaster-leafed pear, is a species of wild pear plant in the genus Pyrus (Rosaceae), the specific name referring to the similarity of its foliage to that of Elaeagnus angustifolia - the so-called 'wild olive' or oleaster.
Pyrus betulifolia, known as the birchleaf pear in English and tang li in Chinese, is a deciduous wild pear tree native to the leafy forests of northern and central China and Tibet. It can grow 10 meters high in optimal conditions. Formidable thorns protect its leaves from predation. These narrow and extended leaves, resembling smaller birch leaves, provide it with its specific name betulifolia, meaning "birch leaf". Its small fruit are used as ingredients in types of rice wine in China and sake in Japan. It is used as rootstock for grafting popular Asian pear varieties.
Pyrus austriaca, the Austrian pear, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Pyrus found in central and southern Europe, and Turkey. They are very large trees for pears, reaching 20 m. It is thought to be a hybrid species of Pyrus pyraster and Pyrus nivalis.
