Question

Last Fall  

This Spring   Just purchased small farm here in Florida a year ago. The property has this old Pear tree with some sort of disease I would like to identify and treat. From the attached pictures can anybody tell me what I am dealing with?

Answer
The problem is most likely cedar-quince rust or a related rust problem.  This fungus requires two hosts.  Fruiting structures and spores are formed on cedar (Juniperus spp.) in the spring and they blow to the quince, pears, and other related plants. The fruits are infected and through the summer, the fungus matures within the pear and will later produce the spore structures shown in your images.  These spores blow back to the cedars and the cycle starts over.

There are many informational fact sheets on the web about this type of problem.  Here are links to two.
http://www.caf.wvu.edu/kearneysville/disease_descriptions/omquince.html

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/apple/plantpath/CARfact.html

You may also notice leaf spots on the pear if the infections are not stopped.  The best treatments are to remove cedar trees in the vacinity and to spray the pear with a fungicide in the spring, when the orange colored fruiting structures are visible on the cedar trees.  Check out the factsheets and they will show images of what to look for on the cedars.

Good luck!
-Jen