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Above: A wild pear tree in Crab Tree Square.
Below: one of many pear trees in front of Westminster Cathedral.
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Trees of London Crab Tree Square
Pear tree
The wild pear is the ancestor to all pear trees, but like the crab apple, which plays a similar role for apple trees, its fruit only bears a rudimentary resemblance to the pears that we buy in the shops. First, the fruit of the wild pear is much smaller and components like the seeds and the skin take up a proportionally high amount of space and the flesh is really just there as an after thought. Nevertheless, they are more or less pear shaped and the seeds are the same as the cultivated pear.
A cultivated pear tree near the Barbican Centre.
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Tree Identification |
Pyrus pyraster: |
Leaf: alternate; round, often curled. |  |
| nuts/fruit:
pears, as seen in shops, but smaller. |
 | Flowers: small, white; grow in clusters. |
| bark: rough, grey, brown; cracking. |
shape:
| grows to 20 metres; rounded crown. |
general: not exactly everywhere, but surprisingly common in central London. There are some in Leicester Square. |
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Location
Crab Tree Square is located opposite the Goodge Street Spaghetti House restaurant. There are several wild pear trees in the seating area, surrounded by benches |
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Trees of London A James Wilkinson Publication ©
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