the trees of great britain & ireland - Facsimile Books & other digitally ...
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150 The Trees <strong>of</strong> Great Britain and Ireland<br />
<strong>of</strong> a brown oak chest, made for me by Messrs. Marsh, Cribb, and Co., <strong>of</strong> Leeds.<br />
Mouillefert says it is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hardest and most valuable woods grown in France,<br />
and is especially sought for by engravers, carvers, turners, and gun-makers. It<br />
seems to be difficult both to propagate and to grow, at least in its youth, and Loudon<br />
says that though it may be grafted on <strong>the</strong> pear or <strong>the</strong> mountain ash, it is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
most difficult <strong>trees</strong> to graft, and that it will not layer successfully, and that it grows<br />
very slowly from seed, not attaining more than i foot high in four years. Seeds 1<br />
sown in autumn germinate in <strong>the</strong> following spring. The young seedling has two<br />
oval entire-margined cotyledons, and attains about 4 inches in height in <strong>the</strong> first<br />
year's growth. Plants may be had from <strong>the</strong> French nurserymen. Mr. Weale, <strong>of</strong><br />
Liverpool, reports as follows on a sample <strong>of</strong> this wood which I sent him : " The<br />
wood is close and homogeneous in texture, tough, but inclined to be brittle. Rays<br />
on transverse section invisible, and rings only to be distinguished by <strong>the</strong> difference<br />
in colour <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> spring and autumn wood. Harder than whitebeam, seasons well,<br />
without warping or splitting, and with little shrinkage. A reliable wood when<br />
thoroughly dry." (H. J. E.)<br />
1 Matliieu, Flore Foreslierc, 1 84 (1897).<br />
Pyrus<br />
PYRUS TORMINALIS, WILD SERVICE<br />
Pyrus torminalis, Ehrhart, " Plantag." xxii. ex Belt, zur Naturkunde, vi. 92 (1791); Loudon, Arb. et<br />
Frut. Brit. ii. 913 (1838); Conwentz, Beob. fiber Seltene Waldbdume in West Pretissen, 3 (1895).<br />
Cratccgus torminalis, Linnagus, Sp. PI. 4 76 (1753).<br />
Sorbus torminalis, Crantz, Stiff. Anstr., ed. 2, fasc. ii. 85 (1767).<br />
Torminaria Clusii, Roemer, Synopsis, iii. 130 (1847).<br />
A tree, attaining exceptionally a height <strong>of</strong> 80 feet, but more generally only reach<br />
ing 40 or 50 feet. Bark smooth and grey at first, but after fifteen or twenty years <strong>of</strong><br />
age scaling <strong>of</strong>f in thin plates, and ultimately becoming fissured. Leaves long-stalked,<br />
broadly oval, nearly as broad as long, with a cordate or truncate base and an acute<br />
apex ; with 6-10 triangular acuminate serrate lobes ; shining and glabrous above,<br />
obscurely pubescent beneath; nerves pinnate, 5-8 pairs. Flowers white in corymbs.<br />
Styles 2, glabrous, united for <strong>the</strong> <strong>great</strong>er part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir length. Fruit ovoid, brownish<br />
when ripe, with warty lenticels, vinous in taste when in a state <strong>of</strong> incipient decay;<br />
cut across transversely it shows a ring <strong>of</strong> white hardened tissue, forming a mesocarp<br />
around <strong>the</strong> core.<br />
The leaves are generally described as glabrous on <strong>the</strong> under surface, but in all<br />
specimens traces <strong>of</strong> pubescence may be observed, which is much more marked on<br />
coppice shoots and epicormic branches.<br />
VARIETIES<br />
None have been obtained in cultivation so far as we know, and wild <strong>trees</strong> vary<br />
very little in any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir characters. A variety, pinnatifida, with <strong>the</strong> lobing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
leaves very deep, is described by Boissier, 1 from specimens occurring in Asia<br />
Minor and Roumelia.<br />
IDENTIFICATION<br />
The leaves in summer are unmistakable (see Plate 44), and can only be<br />
confounded with certain forms <strong>of</strong> Pyrus latifolia ; but in <strong>the</strong> latter species <strong>the</strong> under<br />
surface <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> leaf is always plainly grey tomentose, and <strong>the</strong> lobes are much shorter<br />
than in P. torminalis. I n winter <strong>the</strong> following characters, shown in Plate 45, are<br />
available.<br />
Twigs: long shoots, glabrous, shining, somewhat angled, with numerous<br />
lenticels ; leaf-scar semicircular with 3 bundle traces, set parallel to <strong>the</strong> twig on a<br />
greenish cushion. Buds almost globular, terminal larger, side-buds nearly appressed<br />
to <strong>the</strong> twig ; scales green with a narrow brown margin, glabrous, with <strong>the</strong> apex<br />
double-notched. Short shoots slightly ringed, glabrous, ending in a terminal bud.<br />
(A. H.)<br />
f'lvra Orientalis, ii. 659 (1872.)