Locally, it is known by many names such as batangi[2] (Urdu), tangi (Kashmiri), mahal mol (Hindi) and passi (Nepal).

[3] Pyrus pashia is distributed across the Himalayas, from Pakistan to Vietnam and from southern province of China to the northern region of India.

[5] Pyrus pashia is a tolerant tree that grows on sandy loamy soil that is well drained.

[6] The trees themselves, unlike the fruit, are not much sold in the retail trade, and beyond those growing wild the species can be found almost exclusively in local home gardens.

[5] The leaves of a mature tree are characterized as simple, long-pointed, toothed, hairless and shining with an ovate to ovate-lanceolate shape the length of which ranges from 5 to 10 centimetres (2.0 to 3.9 in).

[2] Mature trees can have spiny branches with bark that is rough and quite dark, almost black in some cases.

This can provide a dramatic backdrop to the tree's mass of bright white blooms in the spring and intense yellow foliage in the autumn.

[5] Flowers of Pyrus pashia, 2 to 5 cm in diameter, are of white color that are slightly tinged with pink.

[3] However, it is rarely found in local, national and international markets as it is not a major cultivated tree and also the fruit are very soft and highly perishable at maturity.

[8] Locals use the juice of the ripened fruit to treat conjunctivitis by putting it in the eye of the diseased animal.