Legend has it that a gardener was once bricked up inside this wild pear, but the truth is less exciting: a branch split from the trunk in the 1960s and the wound was filled with bricks and covered in tar, following arboricultural practice of the time. The tree is gradually growing around the bricks and encasing them. This treatment for branch loss is no longer recommended.
The rose family (Rosaceae) includes many economically important species, such as apples, plums, raspberries, strawberries and almonds. Their flowers are radially symmetrical, often showy, and many of their fruits are edible. However, their seeds often release small quantities of cyanide when crushed, which is a plant defence against herbivory.
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