This is an accepted version of this page About 30 species; see text Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn.

The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus /ˈpaɪrəs/, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name.

The word pear is probably from Germanic pera as a loanword of Vulgar Latin pira, the plural of pirum, akin to Greek apios (from Mycenaean ápisos),[1] of Semitic origin (pirâ), meaning "fruit".

[4] The pear is native to coastal, temperate, and mountainous regions of the Old World, from Western Europe and North Africa east across Asia.

[7][8] The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, 2–12 cm (1–4+1⁄2 in) long, glossy green on some species, densely silvery-hairy in some others; leaf shape varies from broad oval to narrow lanceolate.

[11] The flowers are white, rarely tinted yellow or pink, 2–4 centimetres (1–1+1⁄2 in) diameter, and have five petals, five sepals, and numerous stamens.

[10] The fruit is a pseudofruit composed of the receptacle or upper end of the flower stalk (the so-called calyx tube) greatly dilated.

[7][15] Pear cultivation in temperate climates extends to the remotest antiquity, and evidence exists of its use as a food since prehistoric times.

[18] The word pear, or its equivalent, occurs in all the Celtic languages, while in Slavic and other dialects, differing appellations still referring to the same thing are found—a diversity and multiplicity of nomenclature, which led Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle to infer a very ancient cultivation of the tree from the shores of the Caspian to those of the Atlantic.

[19][23][24] Other small-fruited pears, distinguished by their early ripening and globose fruit, may be referred to as P. cordata, a species found wild in southwestern Europe.

[5][8] Court accounts of Henry III of England record pears shipped from La Rochelle-Normande and presented to the king by the sheriffs of the City of London.

[30] Asian species with medium to large edible fruit include P. pyrifolia, P. ussuriensis, P. × bretschneideri, and P. × sinkiangensis.

[35] There are four species which are primarily grown for edible fruit production: the European pear Pyrus communis subsp.

[38] The Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford') is widespread as an ornamental tree in North America, where it has become invasive in regions.

[51] Summer and autumn cultivars of Pyrus communis, being climacteric fruits, are gathered before they are fully ripe, while they are still green, but snap off when lifted.

[65] Pear wood is one of the preferred materials in the manufacture of high-quality woodwind instruments and furniture, and was used for making the carved blocks for woodcuts.

Pear wood is valued for kitchen spoons, scoops and stirrers, as it does not contaminate food with color, flavor or smell, and resists warping and splintering despite repeated soaking and drying cycles.

Lincoln[66] describes it as "a fairly tough, very stable wood... (used for) carving... brushbacks, umbrella handles, measuring instruments such as set squares and T-squares... recorders... violin and guitar fingerboards and piano keys... decorative veneering."

Pear and walnut trees were held to be the sacred abodes of beneficent spirits in pre-Islamic Chechen religion and, for this reason, it was forbidden to fell them.