The White Pear tree connects you with your heart’s desire – this is a hugely uplifting, joyful tree that opens your eyes to the beauty of life. White pear has an exuberant, feminine energy that enhances self-acceptance and open-heartedness.
It may assist you with finding your path in life provided that you have the commitment to follow through with what is asked of you. The white pear may be a good essence to use when you need to manifest abundance in your life.

Affirmation: I am perfect. I love and embrace the totality of my Being. I see and celebrate this perfection in others.

Corresponding Colour: Coral Pink

Supportive Essence: the Sea Guarrie essence may act as a supportive essence to the White Pear essence, particularly if the White Pear essence is being used to address a long-standing imbalance and an “awareness crisis” has arisen. An awareness crisis is an intensification of negative feelings or old patterns of being. It is the soul’s way of calling our attention to these old blockages that need to be acknowledged, blessed and released.

White Pear
Apodytes dimidiata
Family: ICACINACEAE

Learning about how this tree grows in nature brings further appreciation for its essence:

A stately evergreen tree, the white pear can grow with a long straight trunk to over twenty meters in height under forest conditions; rocky and exposed sites result in small, gnarled and compact specimens. Easily adapted, it is found from the Western Cape in southern Africa to Ethiopia in the north.

The white pear bears a profusion of sweetly scented white flowers and their vanilla-like scent perfumes the warm summer months at Platbos Forest. These are followed by the fruit – an asymmetrical black drupe with a red, fleshy appendage. The bark is a pale grey on young trees and it is often covered by white and orange lichens at Platbos. The branches and trunks turn a darker grey as the tree ages.

The timber of the white pear is prized for its strong, elastic qualities. It was much sought after by wagon builders and as a result, most of the country’s finest trees were logged out. It is a valued wood for furniture making and it has also been used for flooring, veneering, paneling, rifle stocks and engraving for printing. Wind-fallen branches are gathered at Platbos and hand-crafted into unique and beautiful pendulums.

Traditionally parts of this tree have been used to treat intestinal parasites and as a remedy for ear infections. The white pear is also revered for it protective powers and it is said to ward off evil spirits. The Department of Biology at the University of Kwazulu Natal has identified compounds found in its leaves as a potential molluscicide for the snails involved in the lifecycle of bilharzia.

Harvesting of any parts of a tree or plant must always be done in a kind, respectful and sustainable manner, and necessary permits obtained from the relevant authorities. Those purchasing natural plant remedies also have the responsibility to ensure that these products have been sustainably harvested as otherwise they too are contributing to the likely extinction of the plant and other animals in the ecosystem that rely upon it for their survival.

The white pear is a protected tree in South Africa. They make beautiful specimen, shade trees and they also prune well so can be grown as dense, screening hedges. The roots are non-invasive and they are fast growing trees.