If you grew up around an old farm, there was likely a pear tree somewhere in the yard. Their striking white blossoms were often seen as a first sign of springtime. The fruit wasn’t really pear-shaped, but rounder, like an apple. The escaped and leftover pears still found along roadsides and on abandoned homesteads in the South are most likely Asian pears (Pyrus pyrifolia). These once-ubiquitous orbs are referred to as hog pears by many old-timers in South Georgia because the hard fruit takes so long to ripen that the only creatures said to eat them are hogs. Many still use the term today.[Some sources note that hog pear is the term for an invasive variety known as the Callery pear, but where I grew up, we called all the roundish pears hog pears.] My great-grandmother made wonderful fried pear tarts when they ripened, usually in late summer or early autumn. Sand pear, which refers to the noticeably gritty texture of the fruit, is more commonly used in Florida. It can get rather confusing, really.
Plant nerd chiming in:
I’ve grown up eating the hard pears all my life, but no one ever had a name for them. I’ve learned since that sand pear is a possible name for some or all types (hog pear is a nice name as well). The species are either Pyrus communis or P. pyrifolia, or a hybrid between the two.
Here are some cultivars:
http://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/store/c/35-Pear-Trees.aspx
If the pear trees one sees growing in this area are actually wild, they are probably offspring from the dreaded Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana).
Here’s an article describing how that happens:
http://www.caes.uga.edu/newswire/story.html?storyid=5419&story=Invasive-Pears
I learned how to can with grandma’s pears. 🙂 Sweet memories.
My grandfather had one in our yard. I loved to see it in full bloom, the pears was the best. Not mention it made great switches…When he moved from the old home to the new one, he took cutting and the trees now get so full the limbs almost lay on the ground. Such great memories.
Beautiful. Love this little anecdote.