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History: Pliny's Natural History de Re Coquinaria

The pear is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to coastal and temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Pear trees can reach 10-17 meters tall and their leaves are alternately arranged and vary in shape from oval to lanceolate. Most pears flower in early spring with white flowers 2-4 cm in diameter. The pear fruit is a pome that varies in size and shape depending on the species, but cultivated varieties can be up to 18 cm long. Pears have been cultivated for thousands of years across Europe, Asia, and North Africa, with over 20 primary species that have evolved many cultivated varieties through selective breeding.

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83 views2 pages

History: Pliny's Natural History de Re Coquinaria

The pear is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to coastal and temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Pear trees can reach 10-17 meters tall and their leaves are alternately arranged and vary in shape from oval to lanceolate. Most pears flower in early spring with white flowers 2-4 cm in diameter. The pear fruit is a pome that varies in size and shape depending on the species, but cultivated varieties can be up to 18 cm long. Pears have been cultivated for thousands of years across Europe, Asia, and North Africa, with over 20 primary species that have evolved many cultivated varieties through selective breeding.

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Tommy2
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© © All Rights Reserved
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The pear is native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of the Old World, from western Europe

and north Africa east right across Asia. It is a medium-sized tree, reaching 10–17 metres (33–
56 ft) tall, often with a tall, narrow crown; a few species are shrubby.
The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, 2–12 centimetres (0.79–4.72 in) long, glossy green
on some species, densely silvery-hairy in some others; leaf shape varies from broad oval to
narrow lanceolate. Most pears are deciduous, but one or two species in southeast Asia
are evergreen. Most are cold-hardy, withstanding temperatures between −25 °C (−13 °F) and
−40 °C (−40 °F) in winter, except for the evergreen species, which only tolerate temperatures
down to about −15 °C (5 °F).
The flowers are white, rarely tinted yellow or pink, 2–4 centimetres (0.79–1.57 in) diameter, and
have five petals.[2] Like that of the related apple, the pear fruit is a pome, in most wild species 1–4
centimetres (0.39–1.57 in) diameter, but in some cultivated forms up to 18 centimetres (7.1 in)
long and 8 centimetres (3.1 in) broad; the shape varies in most species from oblate or globose, to
the classic pyriform 'pear-shape' of the European pear with an elongated basal portion and a
bulbous end.
The fruit is composed of the receptacle or upper end of the flower-stalk (the so-called calyx tube)
greatly dilated. Enclosed within its cellular flesh is the true fruit: five 'cartilaginous' carpels, known
colloquially as the "core". From the upper rim of the receptacle are given off the five sepals,
[vague]
 the five petals, and the very numerous stamens.
Pears and apples cannot always be distinguished by the form of the fruit; [3] some pears look very
much like some apples, e.g. the nashi pear. One major difference is that the flesh of pear fruit
contains stone cells.

History[edit]

Pyrus calleryana in flower

Pear cultivation in cool temperate climates extends to the remotest antiquity, and there is


evidence of its use as a food since prehistoric times. Many traces of it have been found
in prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich. The word “pear”, or its equivalent, occurs in all
the Celtic languages, while in Slavic and other dialects, differing appellations, still referring to the
same thing, are found—a diversity and multiplicity of nomenclature which led Alphonse Pyramus
de Candolle to infer a very ancient cultivation of the tree from the shores of the Caspian to those
of the Atlantic.
The pear was also cultivated by the Romans, who ate the fruits raw or cooked, just like apples.
[4]
 Pliny's Natural History recommended stewing them with honey and noted three dozen varieties.
The Roman cookbook De re coquinaria has a recipe for a spiced, stewed-pear patina, or soufflé.[5]
A certain race of pears, with white down on the undersurface of their leaves, is supposed to have
originated from P. nivalis, and their fruit is chiefly used in France in the manufacture of perry (see
also cider). Other small-fruited pears, distinguished by their early ripening and apple-like fruit,
may be referred to as P. cordata, a species found wild in western France and southwestern
England. Pears have been cultivated in China for approximately 3000 years.
The genus is thought to have originated in present-day Western China[6] in the foothills of the Tian
Shan, a mountain range of Central Asia, and to have spread to the north and south along
mountain chains, evolving into a diverse group of over 20 widely recognized primary species. [citation
needed]
 The enormous number of varieties of the cultivated European pear (Pyrus
communis subsp. communis), are without doubt derived from one or two wild subspecies (P.
communis subsp. pyraster and P. communis subsp. caucasica), widely distributed throughout
Europe, and sometimes forming part of the natural vegetation of the forests. Court accounts of
Henry III of England record pears shipped from La Rochelle-Normande and presented to the King
by the Sheriffs of the City of London. The French names of pears grown in English medieval
gardens suggest that their reputation, at the least, was French; a favored variety in the accounts
was named for Saint Rule or Regul', Bishop of Senlis. [7]
Asian species with medium to large edible fruit include P. pyrifolia, P. ussuriensis, P. ×
bretschneideri, P. × sinkiangensis, and P. pashia. Other small-fruited species are frequently used
as rootstocks for the cultivated forms.

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