Pyrus pyrifolia – Nashi pear – ‘Shinseiki’

Description

The nashi pear (Pyrus pyrifolia), sand pear or Asian pear is a pear species, native to eastern Asia, where it is widely cultivated for its edible fruits. The juicy fruits are shaped like apples. Because of this similarity, they are also known as apple pears. It is a popular fruit, which can be used as a thirst quencher. They are sweet and crunchy when picked from the tree ripe.
The flowers of the nashi pear have five white petals. The plant flowers around April. The fruits are picked in the spring, and nashi can be used as a spring kigo or seasonal word in the haiku script.
Note: in Japanese, Nashi (?) is the word for the Japanese apple pear, while European pears (Pyrus communis) are called Y?nashi (??), which literally means Western nashi.
The similar china pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) is grown in China.