Botanical sheet about wild pear tree, Pyrus pyraster
Location of the wild pear tree
The wild pear tree is a fruit tree present throughout France, but it is rare to find it in the north and in the Mediterranean region.
Attention: it can be confused with the heart-leaved pear tree, Pyrus cordata, a shrub from 3 to 8 meters high, whose frugality allows it to colonize the most ungrateful environments.
Description of the wild pear tree
The Pyrus pyraster is a tree with slow and limited growth. Indeed its cyme, in the shape of pyramid, rarely exceeds a height of 11 to 15 meters.
It is known for its exceptional longevity, commonly exceeding 300 years.
The foliage of the wild pear tree is rather dense. Its branches carry numerous small oval and elongated leaves and its white and very early (April) flowers are hermaphroditic. The small, almost round pears they produce are acrid and astringent.
Note: the wild pear tree is the origin of most of the fruit varieties of pears currently cultivated. It is still used as a rootstock by nurserymen.
The diseases of the wild pear tree
Be careful, the wild pear tree is sensitive to various diseases:
- rots which settle in the wounds which can be caused to its foot;
- to fire blight ;
- torso fiber (uniform inclination of the vessels and fibers of the wood in relation to the axis of the tree), a genetic defect resulting in a "screwed" wood, unsuitable for sawing and thus for noble uses (carpentry, joinery, slicing...).
The uses of wild pear wood
The wild pear tree has a homogeneous wood, very hard, of a generally reddish brown color. Its grain, of a great fineness and an exceptional polish, directs its use towards quality products such as violin making, slicing for top-of-the-range veneers, marquetry, turning, sculpture or engraving.
In rural crafts, many objects from the past still testify to its use due to its remarkable resistance: pulleys, stretchers, levers, grooved wheels, pulleys...
Do you want to plant a wild pear tree?
The wild pear tree appreciates acid to neutral, compact, light and drained soils. It is a heliophilic species; it therefore needs a sunny or, failing that, a semi-shady exposure.
