Callery Pear

Pyrus calleryana

INVASIVE SPECIES

The distinctly oval crown, rigidly ascending branches, and lustrous, dark green leaves that become scarlet or purplish in autumn makes this tree easy to identify.

The PA Department of Agriculture added Callery pear, or Pyrus calleryana, commonly called Bradford Pear to a list of noxious weeds — plants that cannot be legally sold or cultivated in the state. The popular, non-native, flowering fruit tree naturalizes, spreading from planted landscapes, crowding out other plants and disrupting native ecosystems. The ban on sale and cultivation will take effect February 9, 2022 with enforcement phased in over two years.