Plymouth pear  (Pyrus cordata)

The plant seems unable to cope with environmental change and, in the UK, the Plymouth pear has suffered as a result of unsympathetic management and removal of hedgerows. Industrial developments in its namesake city have contributed to its decline and it is also at risk from disease and cross-fertilisation with domestic and other wild pears.

The pear often fails to produce viable seed and while it suckers readily, it is not always possible to ascertain a true identification from suckered trees.

Because of the threat to the survival of the Plymouth pear it has been included in English Nature's Species Recovery Programme. A three-year contract was established with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew to produce a conservation strategy, safeguard the existing population and re-establish the pear within its historic range.

One of the first tasks was to determine the genetic profile of the plant. This would enable a breeding and propagation programme to begin using controlled hybridisation. The young trees could then be transplanted within a suitable, protected site and form a 'nursery' stock for re-introductions elsewhere at a later date.

Trees growing wild in Brittany provided a template for soil type and environmental suitability as well as genetic validation and the National Trust's Regional Headquarters at Lanhydrock was chosen as the first re-introduction site.

Since the first genetic profiling, carried out by Reading University, more individual trees have been discovered growing near Truro in Cornwall. It is possible that more Plymouth pears may be found.