Glossary · Perry
Pyrus nivalis
Latin. Kept in its own language here rather than translated into the nearest English word, because the nearest English word is usually cut on a different axis.
Also written snow pear. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
The snow pear, a species with felted grey foliage used for perry and pear must in Austria and central Europe, and occasionally crossed into perry pear populations further west.
- Subject
- Perry
- Language
- Latin
- Also written
- snow pear
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Perry
Pyrus communis
The European pear, the species to which almost all perry pears and dessert pears belong. Perry cultivars are selections within it, not a separate species.
Perry
Mostbirne
A pear cultivar grown for must rather than for eating in Austria, Switzerland and southern Germany — the central European counterpart of a perry pear.
Perry
Birnenmost
Pear must, and by extension the fermented pear drink of Austria, Switzerland and southern Germany — the central European equivalent of perry.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
GRIN-Global germplasm database — Malus and Pyrus
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service · research institute · retrieved 2026-08-24
Perry Pears
L. C. Luckwill and A. Pollard (eds), published for the National Fruit and Cider Institute by the University of Bristol, 1963 · reference work · bibliographic record verified, not opened 2026-08-25 · covers 1963
Bibliographic record verified on 2026-08-25 against Open Library, which records the work as Luckwill, 1963, published for the National Fruit and Cider Institute by the University of Bristol. The catalogue entry names Luckwill alone where the standard citation names Luckwill and Pollard as joint editors; CiderHQ keeps both names and records the discrepancy rather than silently following one catalogue. This is the foundational descriptive work on English perry pears and the ancestor of most later variety lists. No copy was opened: it is sixty years old, out of print, and held in research libraries rather than in open digital collections.