Pyrus bourgaeana Decne.
P. communis auct., P. communis L. subsp. mamorensis (Trab.) Maire, P. mamorensis Trab.
Eng.: Hesperian pear. Spa.: Piruétano, peral silvestre, galapero. Fre.: Poirier sauvage. Ara.: Njache, kummatra, enzas, bu awiyad, lengas, ngas.
Tree, deciduous, hermaphrodite, slightly or not spiny, up to 15 m in height, ± oval in shape. Trunk well defined, straight, but somewhat tortuous, with greyish-brown bark, fissured longitudinally. Branches greyish, glabrous, with abundant lenticels, younger branches grey or reddish-brown and slightly hairy. Leaves (2-8 × 1.3-5 cm) alternate, solitary or grouped in fascicles, ± ovate, but can vary widely, from oblong to broadly oval or suborbicular, acute at the apex, cuneate, rounded or slightly heart-shaped at the base, margin dentate or serrulate-crenulate; glabrous, light green, slightly shiny on the upper side and matt on the underside. Petiole (1.3-5 cm) well developed, roughly the same length as the leaf. Inflorescence corymbiform, with floral peduncles 1.5-3 cm. Flowers 2.5-3 cm in diameter. Calyx with 5 small greenish-pinkish sepals, triangular-lanceolate, villous. Corolla with 5 white petals, from suborbicular to ovate-lanceolate, glabrous. Stamens 20-30, with red or purple anthers. Styles 2-5. Fruit a pome 1.8-3.2 × 1.2-2.5 cm, subglobose or pyriform, with rigid peduncle (1-3 cm long).
Flowering:
February to March.
Fruiting:
August to October.
Habitat:
Forests and thickets, mainly between cork oaks (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Q. ilex). In all soil types, but more common in decalcified soils, in humid to semiarid environment.
Distribution:
Iberian Peninsula and NW Africa. In NW Morocco, from the most westerly slopes of the Middle Atlas to the Atlantic, western Rif. In the cork oak forests of Mamora it is a relatively common tree and with a good size (trees of more than 5 m in height are common).
Observations:
This species has been often referred to as P. communis L., but P. bourgaeana has smaller petals (5.5-11.5 mm), leaves with serrulate margins, not ciliate, and is an Iberian-mauritanian endemic; P. communis has larger petals (12-14 mm), leaves usually with entire or subentire margin, at first with cilia, then glabrous, and is native to the Caucasus and E Europe. In North Africa P. bourgaeana has traditionally been regarded as P. communis subsp. mamorensis or directly as P. mamorensis.
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species, it does not seem threatened. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level (Draper et al., 2011). In Morocco it is included in its List of native species requiring authorisation for use for commercial purposes (Law 29-2005 and Decree 2-12-484 of 21-May-2015).