QuestionHi Trey--I spend a lot of time in the wild, and enjoy foraging. I have had wild pears pointed out to me by an expert, and find it hard to tell the difference between these and, say, a wild crabapple or apple. Do you have any ideas on this? Also, I have read that peaches are found in the wild in the southeast; how does one identify these? How do they differ (leaf, twig, or whatever) from apples and pears? I know that peaches won't have a crown on the bottom, but that's as much as I can figure out. Thanks!
AnswerThough they are similar looking, differentiating pears from apples is easy with practice. For one thing, pears have a pointier leaf. Peaches have a much pointier leaf and bark typical of the Prunus genus- shiney with radial lines. Differentiating peaches from apples and pears should be simple with a bit of familiarity.
Trey
