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Pyrus cordata Desv.

P. communis subsp. longipes (Coss. & Durieu) Maire, P. longipes Coss. & Durieu, P. communis subsp. gharbiana (Trab.) Maire, P. gharbiana Trab.

Eng.: Wild pear.   Spa.: Peral, avuguero, espino negral, carupero, peretero.   Fre.: Poirier sauvage.   Ara.: Kummatra, enzas.

Shrub or tree, deciduous, hermaphrodite, up to 15 m in height, crown ± pyramidal, spiny; bark fissured longitudinally, greyish. Branches erect-patent, with abundant lenticels, young branches hairy; buds 2.2-5.1(7.6) mm, conical, acute, with 3-5 scales, ciliate, glabrous. Leaves 2.8-6 × 1.5-4.9 cm, from orbicular to ovate, ± acuminate, base cordate, truncated or cuneate, serrulate, hairy when sprouting, later glabrous, not ciliated; petiole 12-39 mm; stipules 8 × 0.5-0.6 mm, linear-lanceolate, hairy. Inflorescence with very hairy branching on flowering and almost glabrous on fruiting. Sepals 2.1-5.5 × 1.3-3 mm, very hairy. Petals 7.8-12.7 × 4-8.9 mm, white. Stamens 20-24; filaments 2-5 mm; anthers 0.5-1 mm. Styles (2)3-5, 3-3.5 mm. Pome 6.4-18(28) × 7.5-18(25) mm, globose, sometimes pyriform, reddish, yellowish or brown, with caducous calyx —sometimes persistent—, and peduncle 12-20(27) × 0.8-1.3(1.6) mm, flexible

Flowering:

April to June.

 

Fruiting:

September to November.

Habitat:

Fringes of forests, thickets, margins of cultivated areas and roadsides, or cleared areas; in all types of soils; 0-1500 m in altitude.

Distribution:

Mediterranean region and central Europe, reaching in the E to N Iran. In North Africa it is distributed in northern Morocco (Rif, Mt. Debdou, steppes of high Muluya, Middle Atlas and Za river), and in northern Algeria (Tellian Atlas, Saharan Atlas and some mountains in the region of the high steppic plateaux, with some curious localities such as the islet of Kouka, in Chott Ech Chergui).

Observations:

While P. syriaca and P. bourgaeana are well developed trees, P. cordata grows frequently as a creeping shrub (although it can also reach tree size), possibly due to living in mountainous areas with more extreme weather conditions.

Conservation status:

Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

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