DCHP-1 Online

Indian pear Esp. Eastern Canada

• 1 the fruit of any of these plants.

  See also: pear (def. 1)  serviceberry (def. 2)  

  • 1818  A fruit in this Island, called the Indian Pear, is very delicious.
  • 1872  (1873)  The sasketoon are simply what are known in Nova Scotia as "Indian pears". . . .
  • 1921  (1923)  The forests of Quebec are rich in wild berries; cranberries, Indian pears. . . .

• 2 any of several bushes or shrubby trees of the genus Amelanchier.

  See also: serviceberry (def. 1)  

  • 1822  (1928)  On the skirts of the forest, and of the marshes, are found . . . Indian pear or shadbush. . . .
  • 1956  Then came the long reach of scrub woods, wire birch and poplar mostly, with blossoming clumps of Indian pear, like patches of snow on the slopes. . . .