It is common in Brittany, Northern Portugal and Galicia where it occurs at woodland margins and scrub on acid soils.

[citation needed] It occurs in thickets, hedgerows, scrub and open woods with cool-temperate climates, in lowlands and hills.

[citation needed] The species receives its English name from the area it was originally found growing in Plymouth in 1871 by a local naturalist, T. R. Archer Briggs.

[citation needed] The species suffers from low seed fertility caused by the inbreeding of the two, British populations and conservation efforts are attempting to combat this.

[citation needed] Botanists at Kew Gardens where conservation efforts are taking place have concluded that the Plymouth Pear was brought from Brittany as a hedging plant several hundred years ago.