Editing Pyrus communis

{{Short description|Species of pear tree}}
{{Speciesbox
|image=Pears.jpg
|image_caption=Common pear branch with fruit
|status=LC
|status_system=IUCN3.1
|status_ref=<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Barstow, M. |date=2017 |title=''Pyrus communis'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T173010A61580281 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T173010A61580281.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
|genus=Pyrus
|species=communis
|authority=[[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
|synonyms_ref=<ref name="30065762-2" />
|synonyms={{Collapsible list|
* ''Crataegus excelsa'' {{small|Salisb.}}
* ''Malus communis'' {{small|(L.) Poir.}}
* ''Pyrenia pyrus'' {{small|Clairv.}}
* ''Pyrus achras'' {{small|Gaertn.}}
* ''Pyrus ambrosiaca'' {{small|Poit. & Turpin}}
* ''Pyrus amphigenea'' {{small|Domin ex Dostalek}}
* ''Pyrus anglica'' {{small|Druce}}
* ''Pyrus anglica'' {{small|Poit. & Turpin}}
* ''Pyrus balansae'' {{small|Decne.}}
* ''Pyrus caucasica'' {{small|Fed.}}
* ''Pyrus caucasica'' var. ''schuntukensis'' {{small|Tuz}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''australeuropaea'' {{small|Tuz}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''medioasiatica'' {{small|Tuz}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''orientaleuropaea'' {{small|Tuz}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''transcaucasica'' {{small|Tuz}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' var. ''pompejana'' {{small|L.}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' var. ''pyraster'' {{small|L.}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' var. ''sativa'' {{small|DC.}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' var. ''sylvestris'' {{small|DC.}}
* ''Pyrus communis'' var. ''volema'' {{small|L.}}
* ''Pyrus domestica'' {{small|(Borkh.) Medik.}}
* ''Pyrus karpatiana'' {{small|Terpó}}
* ''Pyrus magyarica'' {{small|Terpó}}
* ''Pyrus moschata'' {{small|Poit. & Turpin}}
* ''Pyrus papulata'' {{small|Poit. & Turpin}}
* ''Pyrus pyraster'' {{small|(L.) Burgsd.}}
* ''Pyrus pyraster'' subsp. ''achras'' {{small|(Gaertn.) Stohr}}
* ''Pyrus pyraster'' var. ''achras'' {{small|(Gaertn.) Cinovskis}}
* ''Pyrus pyraster'' var. ''relicta'' {{small|Dostálek}}
* ''Pyrus pyraster'' var. ''rossica'' {{small|(A.D.Danilov) Tuz}}
* ''Pyrus pyraster'' var. ''tomentosa'' {{small|(W.D.J.Koch) Dostálek}}
* ''Pyrus rossica'' {{small|A.D.Danilov}}
* ''Pyrus salviati'' {{small|Poit. & Turpin}}
* ''Sorbus pyrus'' {{small|Crantz}}
}}}}

'''''Pyrus communis''''', the '''common pear''', is a species of [[pear]] [[native plant|native]] to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://apps.kew.org/trees/?page_id=123 |title=Heritage Rare & Iconic Trees - Visit Kew Gardens |work=kew.org}}</ref>

It is one of the most important fruits of temperate regions, being the species from which most [[orchard]] pear [[cultivar]]s grown in [[Europe]], [[North America]], and [[Australia]] have been developed. Two other species of pear, the Nashi pear (''[[Pyrus pyrifolia]]'') and the hybrid Chinese white or ya pear (''[[Pyrus × bretschneideri]]'', {{zh|c=白梨|p=báilí}}) are more widely grown in [[East Asia]].

==Subtaxa==
The following subspecies are currently accepted:<ref name="30065762-2" >{{cite POWO |id=30065762-2 |title=''Pyrus pseudopashia'' T.T.Yu |access-date=16 March 2022 }}</ref>
* ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''caucasica'' {{small|(Fed.) Browicz}} – Turkey, Caucasus
* ''Pyrus communis'' subsp. ''communis'' – Entire range except Caucasus

==Origin==
The cultivated Common pear (''P. communis'' subsp. ''communis'') is thought to be descended from two subspecies of wild pears, categorized as [[Pyrus pyraster|''P. communis'' subsp.'' pyraster'']] ([[syn.]] ''P. pyraster'') and ''P. communis'' subsp. ''caucasica'' (syn. ''P. caucasica''), which are [[interfertile]] with domesticated pears. Archeological evidence shows these pears "were collected from the wild long before their introduction into cultivation", according to Zohary and Hopf.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Daniel |last1=Zohary |first2=Maria |last2=Hopf |first3=Ehud |last3=Weiss |title=Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Domesticated Plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin |edition=Fourth |publisher=Oxford: University Press |year=2012 |page=176}}</ref> Although they point to finds of pears in sites in [[Neolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]] European sites, "reliable information on pear cultivation first appears in the works of the [[ancient Greece|Greek]] and the [[ancient Rome|Roman]] writers."<ref>{{cite book |first1=Daniel |last1=Zohary |first2=Maria |last2=Hopf |first3=Ehud |last3=Weiss |title=Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Domesticated Plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin |edition=Fourth |publisher=Oxford: University Press |year=2012 |page=177}}</ref> [[Theophrastus]], [[Cato the Elder]], and [[Pliny the Elder]] all present information about the cultivation and [[grafting]] of pears.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

==Cultivation==
[[File:2015 Kwiatostan gruszy pospolitej.jpg|left|thumb|Pear tree in flower]]
[[File:Kruška Rana Moretini - mali plodovi.JPG|left|thumb|160px|Tiny unripe pears]]
Common pear trees are not quite as hardy as [[apple]]s, but nearly so. However, they do require some winter chilling to produce fruit. A number of [[Lepidoptera]] [[caterpillars]] feed on pear tree leaves.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

For best and most consistent quality, common pears are picked when the fruit matures, but before they are ripe. Fruit allowed to ripen on the tree often drops before it can be picked, and in any event will be hard to pick without bruising. Pears store (and ship) well in their mature but unripe state if kept cold, and can be ripened later, a process called [[bletting]]. Some varieties, such as [[D'Anjou|Beurre d'Anjou]], ripen only with exposure to cold.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

Fermented pear juice is called [[perry]]. In Britain, the [[Perry (disambiguation)|place name "Perry"]] can indicate the historical presence of pear trees.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

Relatively few cultivars of European or Asian pears are widely grown worldwide. Only about 20–25 European and 10–20 Asian cultivars represent virtually all the pears of commerce.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} Almost all European cultivars were chance seedlings or selections originating in western Europe, mostly France. The Asian cultivars all originated in Japan and China. 'Bartlett' (Williams) is the most common pear cultivar in the world, representing about 75% of US pear production.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

===Major cultivars===
{{Globalize|section|date=August 2014}}
{{see|List of pear cultivars}}

===Selected common pear cultivars===
Those marked {{smallcaps|agm}} have gained the [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s [[Award of Garden Merit]].
* '[[Abate Fetel]]' (syn. Abbé Fetel; a major cultivar in Italy)
* 'Ayers' (USA - an interspecific ''P. communis ''×'' P. pyrifolia'' hybrid from the University of Tennessee)
* 'Bambinella' (Malta)
* 'Beth' {{smallcaps|agm}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Beth' |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1581 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509211712/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1581 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[:fr:Beurré Hardy|Beurré Hardy]]/[[:de:Gellerts Butterbirne|Gellerts Butterbirne]]
* 'Blake's Pride' (USA)
* 'Blanquilla' (or 'pera de agua' and 'blanquilla de Aranjuez', Spain)
* 'Butirra Precoce Morettini'
* 'Carmen'<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sito.regione.campania.it/AGRICOLTURA/frutticoltura/liste_varietali_pero.pdf |title=Pero - in Italian |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722010828/http://www.sito.regione.campania.it/AGRICOLTURA/frutticoltura/liste_varietali_pero.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-22}}</ref>
* 'Clara Frijs' (major cultivar in Denmark)
* 'Concorde' (England - a seedling of 'Conference' × 'Doyenné du Comice) {{smallcaps|agm}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Comice' |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1582 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509204334/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1582 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* '[[Conference pear|Conference]]' (England, 1894; the most popular commercial variety in the UK) {{smallcaps|agm}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Conference' |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1583 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509194411/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1583 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 'Corella' (Australia)
* 'Coscia' (very early maturing cultivar from Italy)
* 'Don Guindo' (Spain - strong yellow, flavoured taste)
* 'Doyenné du Comice' (France)
* 'Dr. Jules Guyot'
* 'Forelle' (Germany)
* 'Glou Morceau' (Belgium, 1750)
* 'Gorham' (USA)
* 'Gracioen' (Belgium)
* 'Harrow Delight' (Canada)
* 'Harrow Sweet' (Canada)
* 'Joséphine de Malines' (Belgium - obtained by Esperen, pomologist and mayor of Malines in the 19th century; one of the best late season pears) {{smallcaps|agm}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Joséphine de Malines' |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5823 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509201421/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5823 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 'Kieffer' (USA - a hybrid of the Chinese "sand pear", ''P. pyrifolia'' and probably 'Bartlett')
* 'Laxton's Superb' (England; no longer used due to high susceptibility to [[fireblight]])
* 'Louise Bonne of Jersey' {{smallcaps|agm}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Louise Bonne of Jersey' |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5995 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509191639/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=5995 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 'Luscious' (USA)
* 'Merton Pride' (England, 1941)
* 'Onward' (UK) {{smallcaps|agm}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Onward' |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4517 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509222827/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=4517 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 'Orient' (USA - an interspecific ''P. communis ''×'' P. pyrifolia'' hybrid)
* 'Packham's Triumph' ([[Australia]], 1896)
* 'Pineapple' (USA - an interspecific ''P. communis ''×'' P. pyrifolia'' hybrid)
* 'Red Bartlett' (USA - There are three major red-skinned mutant clones: 'Max Red Bartlett', 'Sensation Red Bartlett', 'Rosired Bartlett')
* '[[Pêra Rocha|Rocha]]' (Portugal)
* 'Rosemarie' (South Africa)
* 'Seckel' (USA; late 17th century [[Philadelphia]] area; still produced, naturally resistant to [[fireblight]])<ref>U.S. Department of Agriculture. (September 2004.) [http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/cgc_reports/PyrusCGCReport2004.pdf "''Pyrus'' Crop Germplasm Committee: Report and genetic vulnerability statement, September 2004"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010184121/http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/cgc_reports/PyrusCGCReport2004.pdf |date=2008-10-10 }}. (Website.) Germ Resources Information Network (GRIN), pages 5-7, 10. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.</ref>
* 'Starkrimson', also called Red Clapp's, is a red-skinned 1939 Michigan bud mutation of Clapp's Favourite. Its thick, smooth skin is a uniform, bright and intense red, and its creamy flesh is sweet and aromatic.<ref>Dris, Ramdane, and S. Mohan Jain (editors.) (2004.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=NW6-jlOQ59cC&pg=PA274&dq=Starkrimson+pear&sig=BCkQ23WUNNQ-47SH_R3y9_5MiDw "Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops: Volume 3, Quality Handling and Evaluation"]. Springer, page 274, {{ISBN|978-1-4020-1700-1}}. Retrieved on 2007-10-10</ref>
* 'Summer Beauty'
* 'Sudduth'
* 'Taylor's Gold' (New Zealand - a russeted mutant clone of 'Comice')
* [[:fr:Triomphe de Vienne|Triomphe de Vienne]]
* '[[Williams pear|Williams Bonne Chrétienne]]' {{smallcaps|agm}}<ref>{{cite web |title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Pyrus communis'' 'Williams Bonne Chretienne' |url=http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1584 |access-date=30 May 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509192547/http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1584 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Blake's Pride pears.jpg|Blake's Pride pear (Image courtesy of USDA, ARS)
Image:Pear peckham 78.jpg|Packham's Triumph pear, or just Packham's pear
Image:Clairgeau1.poupou.jpg|Beurré Clairgeau, or Clairgeau pear, an early 19th-century French variety
Image:Guteluise1.poupou.jpg|Louise Bonne of Jersey pear, a late 18th-century French pear
Image:Pear_pie.jpg|A pear pie
Image:Williams Bon Chrétien 1822.png|Williams' Bon Chrétien (commonly Williams or Bartlett) pear, 1822 printing digitized by Google.
Image:Pomological Watercolor POM00006921.jpg|Summer Beauty pear - watercolor 1893
Image:Pomological Watercolor POM00006920.jpg|Sudduth pear - watercolor 1895
Image:Poires williams Vertes et Rouges Savoie.jpg|Williams pear red and green
Image:Kruška Rana Moretini.jpg|'Butirra Precoce Morettini' variety
Image:Kruška Društvenka.jpg|'Doyenné du Comice' variety
Image:Pomological_Watercolor_POM00007002.jpg|Watercolor of Forelle (Common pear) painted in 1900 by [[Deborah Griscom Passmore]] (USDA)
File:Common pear tree in early June.JPG|Pyrus Communis in the UBC Botanical Garden
Image:Kruška Pastorčica.jpg|'Vicar of Winkfield' variety
File:Päronträd (Pyrus communis) Ystad-2017.jpg|A 104 year old pear tree fell to the ground in a backyard.
File:Päronträd - 2013-Ystad.jpg|Pears bloom in May in a backyard.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Pyrus communis}}
* [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/pyco.htm ''Pyrus communis'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121123956/http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/pyco.htm |date=2013-01-21 }}
{{Pyrus}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q146281}}

[[Category:Flora of Middle Europe]]
[[Category:Flora of Eastern Europe]]
[[Category:Flora of Western Asia]]
[[Category:Pears]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Pyrus|communis]]
[[Category:Fruit trees]]