It is a deciduous deciduous tree of the rose family. The tree is important mainly for fruit production because of its fruit called pears, but the wood and flowering are also valued. Among fruit trees that do not normally live to a long age, the pear tree is one of the long-lived ones. Large-scale cultivation of pears, although a very old crop, has from the beginning been limited by many more or less unfavourable conditions which have discouraged large-scale planting.