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From September to 25, 2009, U.S. scientists K. Hummer and J. Postman from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Japanese scientists H. Iketani and H. Imanishi from the Japanese Ministry of Forestry and Fisheries/National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, and Akita Agricultural University collaborated on an expedition to collect temperate fruit genera in Hokkaido and northern Honshu, Japan. An agreement between Japan and the USDA specified the terms of exchange, and materials collected were shared between scientists of both countries.

From September 7 to 25, 2009, U.S. scientists K. Hummer and J. Postman from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Japanese scientists H. Iketani and H. Imanishi from the Japanese Ministry of Forestry and Fisheries/National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, and Akita Agricultural University collaborated on an expedition to collect temperate fruit genera in Hokkaido and northern Honshu, Japan. An agreement between Japan and the USDA specified the terms of exchange, and materials collected were shared between scientists of both countries.

In China this pear is also called 'Su Li' -- Pu Fu Shen.

Pomologist Ma Shu Shang from Northwestern University in Xion provides the description: Dang-shan Su Li (Pyrus bretschneideri) originated from the Dang Shan area of Anhui Province (Dang Mountain Crispy Pear). Trees bloom at the beginning of April...fruit is mature Sept 20. Size is 200-250 grams. Long storage until March-April in caves. Su Li is the most important variety in northwestern China. In 2002 there was 700,000 mu producing 400,000 tons in Shaanxi Province.' -- info from John Wells, Hood River Grower Shipper Association, 11/2003.

Also collected by F.C. Reimer in 1917. He called it the 'small' Suan Li as opposed to 'Ta Suan Li' (see CPYR 1148) which translates to 'Big Sour Pear': In a small valley in the mountains west of Peking, I found a variety locally known as 'Suan Li' meaning sour pear. This is an interesting variety and in some respects comes very close to the Ping Li (see CPYR 454). It differs chiefly from that variety in the longer stem of the fruit, color not quite so attractive, and perhaps hardly equal to it in quality. The leaves also are slightly longer. Aside from this, the description for Ping Li fits this variety very well. It should be tested as a variety for home use, local market, and should be extensively used in breeding work. I obtained scionwood of this and succeeded in getting a few of the scions to live. Inoculation experiments proved that this variety, while not immune in the tender shoots, is highly resistant to pear blight. It is a variety of P. ussuriensis. -- F.C. Reimer. 1919. Report of a trip to the Orient to collect and study Oriental pears.

In the United States, P. ussuriensis has received a great deal of attention because its stock appears to be resistant to blight. Data collected by Reimer of Oregon has indicated that this species is highly resistant to fire blight. Hence, Reimer thought it might be a valuable stock. The USDA, however, after conducting a thorough trial discouraged its use. The tree proved to be a slow grower, susceptible to leaf-blight (cannot hold its leaves during growing and budding season) and posed a problem in budding because the tough bark do not 'slip' easily. This species has been used as a parent when breeding for cold hardiness and blight resistance.

The name Hung Li means Red Pear. This term, of course, is very indefinite when applied to Chinese varieties of pears. In fact, there are a score of Chinese pears which are known by this name. The writer obtained scionwood of a least three varieties or strains all known as Hung Li. Any pear which possesses a red cheek may pass under the name Hung Li. The term, therefore, is so infefinite that one does not know what variety or type is being obtained unless one actually sees the trees and the fruit on the tree.

The most common type of Hung Li produces fruit of medium size, roundish in shape, with a yellow background and a red cheek on the sunny side, and a shiny skin. The calyx is deciduous. The flesh is hard, possesses a sub-acid flavor, and is not of very high quality. It is a remarkable keeper, and the fruit under favorable conditions will shrivel and dry up and seldom rot. The tree is a vigorous grower. The botany of this variety, in fact almost the entire group has been a puzzle. A careful study leads me to the conclusion that this is a hybrid group with P. ussuriensis as one of the parents.

One very interesting and apparently very valuable variety was obtained near Malanyu under the name Hung Li. I did not see the fruit on this tree as it had all been picked and shipped when I visited the orchard. The leaves show the typical margins of P. ussuriensis, although the shape of the leaf is somewhat different. The young trees in the nursery are very vigorous growers. This variety has proved a perfect marvel in its ability to resist pear blight. Repeated inoculations on various dates and the virulent cultures have failed entirely in most instances. In some cases these were successful in the very tender and very vigorous growing tips and would blight down for a distance of two or three inches and then stop. No other cultivated variety so far tested in our entire collection has proved as resistant as this one. A splendid stand was also obtained in grafting this variety. Every effort is now being made to force this variety into early bearing, and we shall study with great interest the character of the fruit.

-- F.C. Reimer. 1919. Report of trip to the Orient to collect and study Oriental pears.

Pai Li is probably the most popular pear among the Chinese in north China, and is it is also very highly regarded by all foreigners. The sweet flavor of this variety especially appeals to the Chinese, and it must also be added that most Chinese do not care for the tart and sub-acid fruits which we regard so highly in this country... The Pai Li is medium in size, usually 1.5 to 2 inches, although occasionally 2.5 inches in diameter. It is roundish or slightly oblate in shape. The color is a light lemon yellow, with many small inconspicuous cinnamon dots; and the skin is smooth, shiny and quite thin. The calyx is deciduous in about 80% of the fruits and persistent or partly so, in the remainder. At picking time, the flesh is firm, but becomes mellow, tender and is juicy whent ready to eat. No grit cells are noticeable except around the core as in the European pears. The flavor is sweet and very agreeable. In quality, it compares very well with the better European pears. It is an excellent keeper and can be obtained on the Peking market from October to the first of March.

In north China this is often known as the 'Peking Pear' as it is very papular at Peking and many other markets obtain their supply there. It is also extensively grown in the neighborhood of that city. This should prove a valuable pear for home use in local markets in America. It should also prove of value in breeding work, as it is of excellent quality and a splendid keeper, and possibly also in breeding blight resistant varieties as it appears to be a hybrid with P. ussuriensis as one of its parents. -- F.C. Reimer. 1919. Report of a trip to the Orient to collect and study Oriental pears.

'Pai Li' scions were collected by F.C. Reimer and received at the USDA Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction on 16 February, 1918 and assigned PI 45848. Chenganssz, near Peking

Moreover, of enormous importance is the exceptional hardiness of the tree. During my twenty-two years of observation, not a single branch, not a single twig, was damaged by frost. The tree suffered no particular damage even in the winter of 1926/26 when the temperature went down to minus 36 C, and its stem suffered no damage whatever from sunburn..." -- from I.V. Michurin Selected Works. 1950.

Cold hardy; successfully fruited in Anchorage, Alaska. -- Paul Lariviere, 2006

-- Brooks and Olmo Register of Fruit and Nut Varieties

Tse Li (Ts Li) (PI 312509).--Grown in Shantung Province, Northern China for thousands of years. Fruit: large, 75 mm diam., 89 mm long, ovate-pyriform with no distinct neck, irregular, lumpy; yellow with large prominent tan lenticels; crisp, juicy, sweet, trace of tartness, distinct aroma; ripe mid-late September in Oregon, 4 weeks after Nijisseiki; stores 25 weeks at 0 C. Tree: large, upright, very early bloom, requires early blooming pollinator such as Ya Li. Cold hardy yet low chilling requirement, about 350-500 hours. -- Brooks and Olmo Registe of Fruit and Nut Varieties.

Hu (1937) reported that Tsu Li is an old and famous variety in the Shantung Province of Northeastern China, and that production is restricted to the Chucheng, Laiyang, and penglai districts. Kubo (1970) stated that Tsu Li was introduced into Japan from Laiyang in 1912 by Tetsuya Onta. -- W.H. Griggs and B.T. Awakiri. 1977. Asian Pear Varieties in California

Description: This plant can be found in northern and northeastern China, eastern Siberia, Manchuria, Korea, Amurland, and Ussuri. It is an old and famous cultivar in Shantung Province of Northeastern China. In the United States, Tse Li receives much attention due to its tendency to be resistant to fire-blight. However, because of its slow growth rate the USDA discouraged its use. The tree is large, vigorous, dense, and moderately productive. The fruit varies in size and shape. It can be found as ovate-pyriform in longitudinal section and circular to angular in transverse section. The tree is self-incompatible and self-unfruitful in most years. It requires cross-pollination for commercial fruit-set, and Ya Li pollen appears to serve this purpose best.

Collected as Pyrus ussuieriensis, reidentified as P. serotina (= P. pyrifolia).

Distribution: This is an extremely variable type. It is native to northeastern China. I found it in the foot hills and mountains to the west and north of Peking. Mr. F.N. Meyer had found it in the mountains in Poshan in central Shantung Province. The trees are comparatively rare and usually occur as isolated specimens. This type has given rise to a small number of cultivated varieties, and to a good many seedlings which are grown in a limited way in the orchards of North China. All of these varieties and cultivates seedlings pass under the general name 'Tang Li'. Only one of these, the Tang Li grown at Malanyu and in the Panshan district is really worthy of a varietal name. It is medium to large in size, russet in color, with hard flesh, and of poor quality.

Botany: After a careful study in the field in north China, and of the seedlings grown from it at this Experimental Station, I am of the opinion that this is not a distinct or well-defined species, but that it is simply a group of hybrids between other species. The following facts support this view: It is var more variable in form of tree, character of branches, character, form and margin of leaf, size, form, and character of furit, and number of seed cells, than any distinct species of Pyrus that I have studied. This group includes forms which in general can be classed as intermediate between P. betulaefolia and P. ussuriensis... The best evidence of hybridity, however, is revealed in the seedlings of this type. A considerable number of seedlings have been grown from three distinct and typical strains in this group... In each lot part of them resemble the seedlings of P. ussuriensis, part those of P. betulaefolia, and part are intermediate between these two species. -- F.C. Reimer. 1919. Report of a trip to the Orient to collect and study Oriental Pears.

This clone came from the Southern Oregon Experiment Station, and is probably a seedling from Reimer's collection in China.

I regard this as the most promising Oriental variety ever introduced into this country. While the variety is good enough to introduce and grow just as it is, it may prove of even greater value for breeding purposes. This variety certainly contains considerable P. ussuriensis blood. It may have derived solely from that species, although it appears to be a hybrid between this and some other species. Judging from this, we should expect it to shoe a high degree of resistance to pear blight, and should prove valuable in breeding new blight resistant varieties. Inoculation experiments have shown that it blights in the young shoots but appears to be very resistant in the older wood. Judging from its parentage, it should also prove valuable in breeding hardy varieties for cold regions. The tree is a vigorous, rather spreading grower. -- F.C. Reimer. 1919. Report of a trip to the Orient to collect and study Oriental pears.