Bradford pear

Bradford pear, a commercial cultivar of Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana), is a species of fruit tree in the rose family which is native to Southeast Asia, and has been planted as a popular ornamental due to its high tolerance for various soils, its fast growth and resistance to disease, its dense clusters of white flowers in spring, and its showy fall color. On the other hand, the tree's typical branching structure is weak, leading to frequent falling limbs, and its flowers produce a strong-smelling odor, which has been likened to rotting fish or semen.

The Callery pear's fruit is small and berry-like. Its five-petaled flowers bloom in early spring, before the tree produces leaves, producing a vivid spectacle.

Callery pear trees were introduced in the United States in the 1910s and the Bradford cultivar was popularized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a desirable ornamental plant in the mid 1960s. To that end, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson planted one in downtown Washington D.C. in 1966 as a demonstration. In Birmingham Bradford pears, along with Crape myrtles, were commonly planted on neighborhood streets and downtown as part of the city's urban tree planting project of the 1980s. They are visible notably on 23rd Street North, 4th Avenue North, and Crestwood Boulevard.

In 2007 the Alabama Department of Transportation removed hundreds of Bradford pears from the median of Montgomery Highway (U.S. Highway 31) in Vestavia Hills.

Though the Bradford cultivar does not reproduce on its own, cross-pollination with related cultivars can produce fertile seeds which are spread by birds and animals. Because the trees are hardy and fast-growing, they can outcompete native plants in areas of new growth such as roadsides, edges of clearings and disturbed ground, sometimes establishing their own stands.

References

• "Pyrus calleryana" (January 10, 2021) Wikipedia - accessed March 17, 2021
• "First Lady Plants Pear Tree For Agriculture Department" (May 3, 1966) The New York Times, p. 49
• "State to fell trees on U.S. 31 median in Birmingham." (January 17, 2007) Associated Press / Decatur Daily
• Popkin, Gabriel (March 18, 2016) "The Ups and Downs of the Bradford Pear." The New York Times