Pear

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Maloideae
Genus: Pyrus L.

The genus is thought to have originated in present-day western China in the foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains, and to have spread to the east and west along mountain chains, evolving into a diverse group of over 20 widely recognized primary species. The cultivated European pear (Pyrus communis), whose number is enormous, are without doubt derived from one or two wild species (P. pyraster and P. caucasica), widely distributed throughout Europe, and sometimes forming part of the natural vegetation of the forests. In England, where the pear is sometimes considered wild, there is always the doubt that it may not really be so, but the produce of some seed of a cultivated tree deposited by birds or otherwise, which has degenerated into wild spine-bearing trees. 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 species.