Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

Callery pear—best known through its cultivar 'Bradford' and often just called Bradford pear—is one of the first trees to bloom in spring across the eastern US, and its white flowers have a strong, unpleasant smell often likened to rotting fish. Planted widely as a street and yard tree from the 1960s, it now spreads into fields and forests and is considered invasive in much of the East and Midwest. Several states have banned or are phasing out its sale.

Appearance

Growth form: A deciduous tree, usually 16–26 ft (5–8 m) tall with a cone-shaped to rounded crown. The cultivar 'Bradford' can grow much larger, to 50 ft (15 m) tall.
Leaves: Broadly oval leaves about 1¾–3¼ in (4.5–8 cm) long, glossy dark green and almost leathery, with finely scalloped edges. Fall color ranges from yellow and orange to red, purple, and bronze, though a hard frost can cut it short.
Flowers: White, five-petaled flowers about ⅝–1 in (1.5–2.5 cm) across, in clusters of 6–12. They open in early spring, before the leaves are fully out, and their scent draws flies, which are the main pollinators.
Flowering time: Early spring; in Minnesota, around mid-April, about two weeks ahead of apples and crabapples.
Fruit: Small, round, brownish fruits usually ⅜–¾ in (1–2 cm) across, dotted with pale specks. They stay hard until frost softens them.

Look-alikes

Apples and crabapplesMalus

Apple blossoms can be white, pink, red, or purple and smell pleasant, and the bark is gray and flaky. Callery pear blooms about two weeks earlier and smells foul.

Why they get mixed upBoth cover themselves in five-petaled spring flowers.

American plumPrunus americana

Plum flowers smell sweet and have long, yellow-tipped stamens; the bark is gray with curling patches.

Why they get mixed upBoth bloom white in early spring along fencerows and field edges.

ServiceberryAmelanchier

Serviceberry petals are narrow, with clear gaps between them, and the bark is gray and smooth. Callery pear petals are broader and its bark is brown and furrowed.

Why they get mixed upBoth are early white bloomers in woods and yards.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: Roadsides
Old fields
Forest edges
Yards and streets
Range: Native to China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. In the US it has escaped cultivation in many states, mostly in the East and Midwest, and has been found as far north as Wisconsin.
Preferred conditions: Very cold winters limit how far north it spreads. Wild trees have turned up in habitats ranging from wetlands to forests.
Flowering: Flowers Apr
Flowers Apr

Life cycle

Reproduction: Single cultivars can't pollinate themselves, but different cultivars planted within about 300 ft (100 m) of each other can cross and produce fertile seed—this is how planted trees started the wild spread.
Seed dispersal: Birds eat the softened fruit and spread the seeds in their droppings.

Cautions

Cautions: The small fruits soften after frost, but the seeds contain compounds that release cyanide.

Name and classification

Varieties and forms: Many cultivars have been planted in the US. 'Bradford' was selected at the USDA station in Glenn Dale, Maryland, and is known for weak, narrow branch forks that split in storms; it often lives less than 25 years. 'Chanticleer' has a narrower, cone-shaped crown.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
Status: Ohio banned its sale and planting in 2023, South Carolina in 2024, and Pennsylvania listed it as a noxious weed in 2024. Massachusetts added it to its Prohibited Plant List in 2024, with sales ending after 2028.
Threats: Wild Callery pears form dense thickets that crowd out native plants. Wild populations were first noticed spreading in the 1990s.

Culture and stories

Culture and stories: Lady Bird Johnson helped make it popular by planting one in downtown Washington, DC, in 1966.
The 'Survivor Tree' at the World Trade Center site in New York is a Callery pear.
Its name honors Joseph-Marie Callery, a French missionary who sent the first specimen from China to Europe.