#callery pear

[rebeccathenaturalist]

[melgillman]

It's December and it might seem like fruit season is pretty much over for most of the eastern half of the US, but it's a good time to look for bradford/callery pears! (AND it's a good time to eat the fruit to curb their spread, as a highly invasive plant!)

Here's a page from my fruit foraging zine, FRUIT FOR FREE. You can download the whole book from my ko-fi page if you want to see more!

[ouzel-time]

PSA: FUCK CALLERY PEARS!!!

The callery pear, sometimes known by the name of its infamous domestic cultivar, the Bradford pear, is a HIGHLY invasive species throughout the US! At this time of year (late winter to early spring), callery pears bloom and leaf out before any other native tree species, which can lead to overcrowding.

The history of the Bradford pear:

The Bradford cultivar of the callery pear was introduced into the United States in the 1960s as the ultimate ornamental tree: it flowers and leaves out early, it is naturally straight and tall, and grows super quick. Its leaves are deep red in fall and its toxic fruits are candy to birds. But these attributes would lead to it being a highly invasive species. Where I live, these trees are already greening up when most grass is still barely colored. The fact is that these trees fill in before any others, crowding out younger native plants.

(image courtesy of Leslie Mehrnoff)

Then there are the growing habits of the Bradford pear. The Bradford was originally praised for its rapid, even growth. However, these trees grow so fast that they can't build as much strength as slower-growing species, such as oaks. The forks in limbs and branches are the weak spots, and any amount of wind sends down showers of twigs. When I was younger, I lived in a house with three of these invasive shits out front, and it was a hassle to constantly pick up branches and twigs from the lawn.

(image courtesy of Rebekah Wallace)

As a result of their accelerated growth, Bradford pears are HIGHLY susceptible to storm damage, and this can hurt houses, automobiles and other people's property. On top of that, they're not very pretty to look at whenever they're not flowering or colored up for fall.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Pull/dig up any suckers or saplings that you find. Beware that wild-type callery pears have thorns on the ends of their branches, so proceed with caution.

Cut them the hell down. Depending on where you live, you may receive payment or even a free native tree for pear trees you cut down. Note, DO NOT cut down trees on others' property without permission from the owner of said property.

Inform others! The best way to stop the spread of these trees is to teach others about the problem! More people cutting down callery pears means less shitty invasive trees!

Thank you for your consideration!

[lunarlotuscove]

Sunday March 30th 2025 4:18pm

[uxbridge]

Flowering trees; saucer magnolia, cherry blossom, and the dreaded callery pear

[captured-in-nature]

Spring has arrived ❤️

[surr0unds]

brooklyn

[crudlynaturephotos]

[bethanythebogwitch]

We have callery pears where I live. They were imported as ornamentals with the promise that they were sterile. They were not and now they're invasive. What is it with pears?

Nobody throws shade like a biologist with burning hatred for invasive plants

[ificouldhelpyouforget]

Also, Bradford Pears (callery pears) trees should be illegal.

[lunarlotuscove]

Friday, March 28th 2025 11:35 to 11:36 a.m.

[arborryx]

fuck bradford/callery pears!!! they're not flowering yet here, but i remember seeing SO MANY of them last november. their autumn leaves are so bright, it's easy to pick them out.

i'm noticing with both callery pears and honeysuckle, two plants that are eating my area's woods alive, they're always some of the first plants to go green in spring, and the last to shed their leaves in fall. it makes it really easy to see the spread of these invasive species right before and after winter. and it's really disheartening, too. these fuckers just do not quit.

it's funny how the things that make them such popular choices for landscaping plants—lots and lots of flowers, long growth seasons—also make them so much of a problem in their non-native environment. and by funny, i mean really disheartening. where i live, i don't think we'll ever be free of the honeysuckle.

speaking of invasive species

The Bradford pears are blooming and it is a NIGHTMARE. They have spread so much since literally last spring that it's like bone chilling horrifying. The population of individuals capable of flowering has virtually doubled it's awful.

There are entire fields overtaken with them, acres and acres of Bradford Pear Hell, there's saplings springing up along every fence line and roadside, just thick masses of dozens of them everywhere.

And wherever I go, for every blooming tree, there's like. 50 more saplings that are still under a meter tall. It's bad but it's going to get a whole hell of a lot worse.

This has happened SO suddenly holy shit. I remember specifically in 2013 or so my family and I were talking about those weird white trees in an old pasture across the road from our house that was reverting to woods, and what they could possibly be, since it was too early for dogwoods.

Now? Those wretched demon trees are absolutely everywhere, along every fence and tree line and bypass and ditch, stinking like boys' locker rooms and dead animals. THE HORDES OF HELL ARE UPON US. GOD HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS

[cinader]

Some Sunday Morning Videos

Last Sunday morning I didn't take time to make any videos, but I had fun play/working with the water flowing from the pond into Langston Creek, which runs all the way to the Reedy River. I've been on a quest to slow the flow... This Sunday morning it's be

Last Sunday morning I didn’t take time to make any videos, but I had fun play/working with the water flowing from the pond into Langston Creek, which runs all the way to the Reedy River. I’ve been on a quest to slow the flow… Langston Creek Waterfall… Pool Renovation This Sunday morning it’s been more about the Callery pears that are trying to make a comeback in the woods along the goat…

[uxbridge]

Creek barrens

[etakeh]

Homeowners are invited to cut down one or more Callery pear trees and receive one free, non-invasive tree at this event.

Nice. Good job, MO.

[bethanythebogwitch]

We have an invasive pear species where I live because people planted two types of ornamental pears thinking they were sterile and couldn't hybridize. They hybridized alright, and now they're invasive and absurdly hard to kill.

Man look how much of this tree we lost :( it completely shaded our balcony before. It's one of those ornamental shitty pear trees though, like they're all doomed to fall apart eventually.