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Distinguishing varieties of pears by blossoms

BY PROF. W. J. BEAL, LANSING, MICHIGAN.
It was my privilege to demonstrate, at our last
meeting, held in Rochester, N.Y., that the different
varieties of apples may be described and classified
by their flowers alone.
I have recently attempted a similar work in reference
to the flowers of pears. As in apples, so in pears,
the persistent tips of the calyx have formerly been
and are still employed in describing these fruits.
The lobes of the calyx vary in several respects in
different varieties, in their length, breadth, and
the direction they take.

As a general thing, I find the petals of pears are
smaller than those of apples. The petals of different
varieties vary in shape and size in the same
manner.
The stamens of apples and pears are generally
twenty in number for each flower, and are of four
different lengths; the longest in any one flower being
about one-third longer than the shortest. The
longest and oldest stamens form the outside row,
and the shortest the inside row.
The latter are attached a little further down the
calyx tube than any of the others. The two rows
of intervening stamens are between the extremes in
their length and places of attachment.

The set of shortest stamens are placed opposite
the lobes of the calyx. There were twenty-five
each in two flowers examined. In one flower I
counted twenty-seven. In several varieties it was
not an uncommon thing to find 21 or 22, or 23 or
24 stamens, in which cases no definite order could
be made out in regard to their lengths or places
of attachment, though they varied in these respects.
In some varieties the filaments are short, in others,
long; in some stout, in others slender.

The stamens of the Kirtland pear were the longest
of any seen. The longest set of these were nine
millimeters, or about three eighths of an inch. The

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shortest stamens seen were those of White Doyenne.
These were five millimeters, or about three and
one-half sixteenths of an inch, or about five-ninths
as long as those of the Kirtland. The anthers
of different varieties vary somewhat in size. The
styles of apples unite at the base, forming a
stem or stipe. The styles and the stipes of flowers
of different varieties of apples differ in length
and diameter. Some were very densely covered with
wool or hair; some were perfectly smooth. Between
these, in different varieties, we find all intervening
stages.

The styles of pear blossoms for a very short distance
at the base, perhaps one-sixth to one-tenth of
their length, are firmly pressed together, but they
readily separate. In most cases this portion of the
styles is slightly hairy. In some cases it is perfectly
smooth. The longest styles seen were those of
Amire Joannet, and were a trifle over one decimetre
or six and one-half sixteenths of an inch in length.
The shortest styles seen were those of Howell and
White Doyenne, and were over six millimeters, or
about one-fourth of an inch in length. The shortest
styles were about three-fifths the length of the
longest.

The strongest points for describing and classifying
apples by their flowers are found in the styles
classifying apples by their flowers are found in the styles
and their stipes. In pears these are their weakest
points.

I have examined the flowers of about thirty varieties
of pears, and these were mostly obtained in one
orchard, that of H. E. Bid well, Plymouth, Michigan.
This is the orchard once owned by President T. T.
Lyon. In three instances, flowers were examined
from two different localities.

I have not thought the differences in their flowers
were prominent enough to warrant much work in
attempting to classify pears in this way. I have
gone far enough to become convinced that the flowers
should be described in connection with a description
of every variety. In most cases, the description of
the flowers might not be of much practical use, but
in some cases it certainly would.