Cultivation
Pear cultivation in temperate climates extends to the remotest antiquity, with evidence of its use as a food since prehistoric times. Many traces have been found in prehistoric pile dwellings around Lake Zurich. Pears were cultivated in China as early as 2000 BC. An article on pear tree cultivation in Spain is included in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, Book on Agriculture.
The enormous number of varieties of the cultivated European pear (Pyrus communis subsp. communis), are likely derived from one or two wild subspecies (P. c. subsp. pyraster and P. c. subsp. caucasica), widely distributed throughout Europe, and sometimes forming part of the natural vegetation of the forests. 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. The French names of pears grown in English medieval gardens suggest that their reputation, at the least, was French; a favoured variety in the accounts was named for Saint Rieul of Senlis, Bishop of Senlis in northern France.
Asian species with medium to large edible fruit include P. pyrifolia, P. ussuriensis, P. × bretschneideri, and P. × sinkiangensis. Small-fruited species, such as Pyrus calleryana, may be used as rootstocks for the cultivated forms.
The pear was cultivated by the Romans, who ate the fruits raw or cooked, just like apples. They introduced the fruit to Britain. Pliny's Natural History recommended stewing the fruit with honey and noted three dozen varieties. The Roman cookbook De re coquinaria has a recipe for a spiced, stewed-pear patina, or soufflé.
Pyrus nivalis, which has white down on the undersurface of the leaves, is chiefly used in Europe in the manufacture of perry, a drink similar to cider. 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.
