(Pyrus pyraster (L.) Burgsd.)
Habitus
- it is a tree growing to a height of 20 – 25 m, crown is oblong-ovate, branches are protruding
- bark is grey-brown, smooth
- bork is brown-grey, cracked into rectangular plates
Buds
- buds are arranged in a spiral, they are conical, pointed, covering scales are reddish-brown
Shoots
- shoots are straight, yellow-brown to brown, later grey
- on older branches there are numerous brachyblasts
- numerous thorns are of stem origin
Leaves (assimilation organs)
- the leaves are simple, ovate to round, slightly serrated along the margin
- the upper side is dark green, shiny
- the leaves are 4 - 6 x 3 - 4 cm in size, the petiole is relatively long (4 - 5 cm)
Flowers
- the wood is monosexual, flowers are bisexual, white in tufted racemes on 2 – 3 cm long pedicels
- flowers grow from brachyblasts
Fruits – seeds
- the fruit is a spherical to pear-shaped drupe, 3 - 4 cm large, green, yellow when ripe, sweet
Extension
- originally from southern to central Europe
- in Slovakia from lowlands to lower mountain areas (up to 1,000 m above the sea level)
- mainly on sunny and warm shrubby slopes, forest-steppe, light-filled forests, edges
- it is a permanently domesticated, allochthonous species that grows in native or secondary plant communities
Ecology
- it is a light-loving to semi-shaded woody plant, more sensitive to low temperatures
Significance
- it is fruit-bearing tree, ornamental with flowers and fruits
- landscape element
- parent species of fruit cultivars (used as a rootstock)
