caucasica) are thought to be the ancestors of the cultivated European pear (Pyrus communis subsp.

[3] Under good growing conditions, wild pear trees have a remarkably slender form with a characteristic rising crown.

In less favourable conditions they show other characteristic growth forms, such as one-sided or extremely low crowns.

However, owing to its weak competitive ability, the species exists mostly on extreme or marginal sites.

[4] It occurs in thickets and open woods with cool-temperate climates, in lowlands, hills and sometimes in the mountains, at 0–1,400 metres (0–4,593 ft) above sea level.

[9] They appear to be archaeophytes, with charcoal and carbonised pips having been found at several Neolithic sites and are occasionally mentioned in medieval documents.

Its establishment in the British Isles is probably due to human migration, with the trees belonging to one of the Pyrus communis subspecies instead of the true wild pear species of P. pyraster, which is native to much of continental Europe but absent from Britain.