Wild pears

I found a wild pear tree growing in my woods while clearing brush, it must be the offspring of the Asian Pear growing in my yard. My first instinct was to cut it down, but I am thinking about letting it stay. Don't they produce small fruit that wildlife could eat? I don't have any other woodland fruit trees for wildlife food. Should I cut it or let it stay? Oh' by the way, it has thorns on it that really hurt!

Leave the tree, birds and such could really use the fruit.

First be sure it's not some neat native thing. If it's definitely a pear I would get rid of it. Some pears are becoming notorious for being invasive, and you don't want to let that get started. It could even be one of those Gawd-awful callery pears from the local town. Besides, if it's thorny, that's another drawback. The fruits, whatever they turn out to be, probably won't be worth much anyway -- especially if they're callery.

Guy S.

First off, there are no pears indigenous to NA. If it is a "wild" pear, your first instinct would have been correct.

http://www.agnr.umd.edu/ipmnet/5-8art1.htm

A pear tree is of no substantive value to birds and without going into a long lengthy reason why... a pear tree just isn't.

Here are a few links for you-
http://www.enature.com/native_invasive/natives_wildlifegardening.asp

http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/alabama/

http://www.alabamawildflower.org/

http://www.biophilia.net/
This woman lives by you. Her name is Carol. I would encourage you to contact her. She is a wealth of information and she will spend time with you. She's a good soul who loves her land.

This is another person you might want to contact-
Al Schotz, Community Ecologist/Botanist
Alabama Natural Heritage Program
Huntingdon College, Massey Hall
1500 E. Fairview Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36106
aschotz@zebra.net

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/backyard/

I am not a member here but from time to time I have come across interesting contributions-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nativegardening/

http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ea/fun_facts/pubbck7.pdf#search='alabama%20native%20plants'

Nice sale for plants every April here but plants are sold year round-
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Kaul Wildflower Garden
2612 Lane Park Rd., Birmingham, AL 35223
Tel: 205-879-1227

You are the person who has this great family land that you are basically planning on stewarding until you are old and gray, right?

I garden almost exclusively for wildlife. Habitat creation which relies heavily upon fruiting plants to sustain North American wildlife is my "thing". Here, I poked around a little more for you. Don't get overly impressed because I cut and pasted that list into this post from a reliable source-

Here’s a link you might want to hang on to if you are interested in providing habitat for wildlife-
http://www.plantnative.org/rpl-algams.htm

Here’s a link to your extension office-
http://www.sfws.auburn.edu/extension/Publications/ANR623.htm

Some interesting information here-
http://csunx2.bsc.edu/alnative/ecoscape/

Here’s a nice list I pulled from the Internet for you of species that would work for you-
Native Plants for Landscape Use in Alabama
Cacti
Opuntia humifusa (prickly pear)
Ferns
Adiantum capillus-veneris (southern maidenhair fern)
Adiantum pedatum (northern maidenhair fern)
Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort)
Asplenium trichomanes (maidenhair spleenwort)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Botrychium virginianum (rattlesnake fern)
Cystopteris bulbifera (bladder fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal wood fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern, bead fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Phegopteris hexagonoptera (broad beech fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris kunthii (southern shield fern, wood fern, river fern)
Thelypteris novaboracensis (New York fern, tapering fern)
Woodwardia areolata (netted chain fern)
Woodwardia virginica (Virginia chain fern)
Forbs (annuals/biennials)
Aphanostephus skirrhobasis (lazy daisy)
Campanulastrum americanum (American bellflower, tall bellflower)
Dracopsis amplexicaulis (clasping leaf coneflower)
Gaillardia pulchella (Indian blanket, firewheel)
Glandularia canadensis (rose vervain, sweet William)
Helianthus annuus (common sunflower)
Ipomopsis rubra (standing cypress)
Lobelia spicata (pale lobelia)
Monarda citriodora (horsemint, lemon beebalm, lemon mint)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan)
Sabatia brevifolia (narrow-leaved sabatia)
Senecio glabellus (butterweed)
Forbs (perennials)
Acorus calamus (sweet flag, calamus)
Actaea pachypoda (white baneberry)
Ageratina altissima var. altissima (white snakeroot)
Allium canadense (wild garlic)
Allium cernuum (nodding onion)
Amsonia ciliata (blue funnel lily, blue star)
Amsonia tabernaemontana (blue star)
Anemone caroliniana (Carolina anemone, southern thimbleweed)
Antennaria spp. (pussytoes, everlasting)
Apocynum androsaemifolium (spreading dogbane)
Aquilegia canadensis (columbine)
Arisaema triphyllum Back-in-the-pulpit, Indian turnip)
Aruncus dioicus (goat's beard)
Asarum canadense (wild ginger)
Asclepias amplexicaulis (milkweed)
Asclepias humistrata (milkweed)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
Asclepias variegata (milkweed)
Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed)
Aster dumosus (bushy aster)
Aster pilosus (frost aster)
Aster oolentangiensis (sky blue aster)
Astragalus canadensis (milk vetch, Canada milk vetch)
Baptisia alba (white false indigo)
Callirhoe papaver (poppy mallow)
Calylophus berlandieri (square-bud primrose, sundrops)
Camassia scilloides (wild hyacinth)
Canna flaccida (golden canna)
Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh)
Chelone lyonii (turtlehead)
Chrysopsis mariana (Maryland golden aster)
Claytonia caroliniana (broad-leaved spring beauty)
Claytonia virginica (narrow-leaved spring beauty)
Collinsonia canadensis (stoneroot, citronella horsebalm)
Coreopsis auriculata (early coreopsis)
Coreopsis grandiflora (coreopsis)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lance-leaved coreopsis)
Coreopsis pubescens (coreopsis)
Coreopsis tripteris (tall coreopsis)
Delphinium carolinianum (blue larkspur)
Delphinium tricorne (dwarf larkspur)
Dicentra cucullaria (dutchman's breeches)
Dodecatheon meadia (shooting star)
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)
Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master, button snake-root)
Erythronium americanum (eastern trout lily, yellow trout lily)
Eupatorium coelestinum (mist flower)
Eupatorium fistulosum (Joe-pye weed)
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Eupatorium purpureum (Joe-pye weed)
Euphorbia corollata (flowering spurge)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Galium triflorum (sweet-scented bedstraw)
Gentiana saponaria (closed gentian, soapwort gentian)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium, cranesbill)
Hedyotis nigricans (bluets)
Helenium autumnale (common sneezeweed)
Helianthus debilis (sunflower)
Helianthus microcephalus (sunflower)
Helianthus simulans (narrow-leaved sunflower, swamp sunflower)
Helianthus strumosus (woodland sunflower)
Heliopsis helianthoides (ox-eye sunflower, false sunflower)
Heuchera americana var. hirsuticaulis (alumroot)
Hibiscus laevis (halberd-leaved marsh mallow)
Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose mallow, marshmallow hibiscus)
Houstonia caerulea (bluets)
Houstonia longifolia var. longifolia (long-leaved bluets, pale bluets)
Houstonia procumbens (innocence)
Hydrastis canadensis (golden seal)
Hymenocallis caroliniana (spider lily, rain lily)
Hypoxis hirsuta (yellow star grass)
Iris cristata (dwarf crested iris)
Iris hexagona (flag iris)
Iris verna (dwarf flag iris)
Iris virginica (southern blue flag)
Iris virginica var. shrevei (blue flag)
Kosteletzkya virginica (seashore mallow)
Lespedeza capitata (roundheaded bush clover)
Liatris aspera (rough blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris cylindracea (dwarf blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris elegans (gayfeather)
Liatris spicata (marsh blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris squarrosa (blazing star)
Lilium canadense (wild yellow lily, Canada lily)
Lilium catesbaei (pine lily)
Lilium michauxii (Carolina lily)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia)
Lupinus perennis (wild lupine)
Lysimachia ciliata (fringed loosestrife)
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum (false Solomon's seal, false spikenard)
Manfreda virginica (rattlesnake master, false aloe)
Mertensia virginica (bluebells)
Mitchella repens (partridge berry)
Monarda didyma (beebalm, oswego tea)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, horsemint, beebalm)
Monarda punctata (beebalm)
Nuphar lutea (yellow pond lily, cow lily, spatter dock)
Oenothera fruticosa (sundrops)
Orontium aquaticum (golden club)
Osmorhiza claytoni (sweet cicely, sweet jarvil)
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Penstemon australis (beardtongue)
Penstemon digitalis (beardtongue)
Penstemon smallii (small's beardtongue)
Penstemon tenuiflorus (beardtongue)
Phlox carolina (Carolina phlox)
Phlox divaricata (blue woodland phlox, sweet william)
Phlox divaricata ssp. laphamii (blue phlox, sweet william)
Phlox pilosa (prairie phlox, downy phlox)
Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant, false dragonhead)
Podophyllum peltatum (May apple)
Polemonium reptans (Jacob's ladder, Greek valerian)
Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's seal)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (slender mountain mint)
Ranunculus hispidus (early buttercup, tufted buttercup)
Ratibida pinnata (gray-headed coneflower, yellow coneflower)
Rhexia virginica (meadow beauty)
Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed Susan, orange coneflower)
Rudbeckia laciniata (cut-leaf coneflower)
Ruellia humilis (wild petunia)
Salvia lyrata (cancer weed, lyre-leaf sage)
Sanguinaria candensis (bloodroot)
Senecio aureus (golden ragwort)
Silene stellata (starry campion)
Silene virginica (fire pink)
Sisyrinchium angustifolium (narrow-leaved blue-eyed grass)
Sisyrinchium atlanticum (eastern blue-eyed grass)
Solidago caesia (blue-stemmed goldenrod, wreath goldenrod)
Solidago nemoralis (gray goldenrod, old-field goldenrod)
Solidago odora (sweet goldenrod)
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)
Solidago sempervirens (seaside goldenrod)
Solidago ulmifolia (elm-leaved goldenrod)
Spigelia marilandica (Indian pink)
Stylophorum diphyllum (celandine poppy)
Tephrosia virginiana (goat's rue)
Thalictrum dioicum (early meadow rue)
Thalictrum thalictroides (rue anemone)
Thermopsis villosa (bush pea)
Tradescantia hirsuticaulis (hairy spiderwort)
Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio spiderwort)
Trillium cernuum (nodding trillium)
Trillium erectum (wakerobin, purple trillium)
Uvularia sessilifolia (wildoats, merrybells)
Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed)
Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root)
Viola affinis (Florida violet)
Viola canadensis (Canada violet)
Viola conspersa (American dog violet)
Viola pedata (bird-foot violet)
Viola soraria (common blue violet, meadow violet)
Yucca aloifolia (Spanish dagger)
Zephyranthes atamasca (atamasco lily, Easter lily)
Zizia aptera (heart-leaved golden alexanders)
Zizia aurea (golden alexanders)
Grasses/Grass-like plants
Agrostis scabra (ticklegrass, fly-away grass)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem)
Andropogon ternarius (splitbeard bluestem)
Andropogon virginicus (broom sedge)
Arundinaria gigantea (giant cane)
Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Carex plantaginea (plantain-leaved sedge)
Carex stipata (awl-fruited sedge)
Chasmanthium latifolium (inland sea oats, wild oats, river oats, broad-leaf uniola)
Danthonia spicata (poverty grass)
Distichlis spicata (seashore saltgrass)
Elymus hystrix var. hystrix (bottlebrush grass)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass, tumblegrass)
Juncus effusus var. solutus (soft rush)
Leersia oryzoides (rice cut grass)
Muhlenbergia capillaris (gulf muhly, hair grass)
Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
Saccharum giganteum (sugarcane plume grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)
Scirpus cyperinus (wool grass)
Scirpus tabernaemontani (great bulrush)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
Spartina patens (marsh hay cordgrass, salt meadow cordgrass)
Tripsacum dactyloides (eastern gamma grass)
Typha latifolia (cattail)
Shrubs (deciduous)
Aesculus sylvatica (buckeye)
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry, shadbush, Juneberry)
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo, Indigo bush)
Baccharis halimifolia (sea myrtle, groundsel bush)
Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry, French mulberry)
Calycanthus floridus (Carolina allspice, sweet shrub)
Castanea pumila (chinquapin)
Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea, red root)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Clethra alnifolia (summer sweet)
Cornus alternifolia (pogoda dogwood, alternate-leaved dogwood)
Corylus americana (American hazelnut or filbert)
Diervilla sessilifolia (southern bush honeysuckle)
Dirca palustris (leatherwood, ropebark)
Erythrina herbacea (coral bean)
Euonymus americana (strawberry bush, brook euonymus, hearts-a-bustin')
Euonymus atropurpurea (wahoo, burning bush)
Forestiera acuminata (swamp privet)
Fothergilla major (witch alder)
Frangula caroliniana (Carolina buckthorn)
Hibiscus coccineus (wild red mallow)
Hydrangea arborescens (wild hydrangea)
Hydrangea quercifolia (oakleaf hydrangea)
Hypericum hypericoides ssp. hypericoides (St. Andrew's cross)
Hypericum prolificum (shrubby St. John's wort)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry, black alder)
Itea virginica (Virginia willow, sweetspire, tassel-white)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lycium carolinianum (Christmas berry, matrimony vine)
Lyonia ligustrina (male-berry, male-blueberry)
Physocarpus opulifolius (ninebark)
Rhododendron atlanticum (dwarf, or coastal azalea)
Rhododendron canescens (wild, piedmont, or sweet azalea)
Rhododendron calendulaceum (flame azalea)
Rhododendron viscosum (swamp azalea)
Rhododendron arborescens (smooth azalea)
Rhus hirta (staghorn sumac)
Rhus copallinum (dwarf or winged sumac)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Ribes cynosbati (prickly gooseberry, dogberry)
Rosa carolina (Carolina rose)
Rosa setigera (Illinois or prairie rose)
Sambucus canadensis (elderberry, common elder)
Sideroxylon lanuginosum ssp. lanuginosum (chittamwood, gum elastic tree)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush, hardhack)
Staphylea trifolia (bladdernut)
Stewartia malacodendron (silky camellia)
Styrax americanus (American silverbells)
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (coralberry, Indian currant)
Vaccinium arboreum (sparkleberry, farkleberry)
Vaccinium corymbosom (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (southern arrowwood)
Viburnum nudum (possumhaw viburnum)
Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides (wild raisin)
Viburnum prunifolium (black haw, nanny berry)
Viburnum rufidulum (southern or rusty black haw)
Shrubs (evergreen)
Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus)
Gordonia lasianthus (loblolly bay, gordonia)
Ilex glabra (inkberry, bitter gallberry)
Ilex vomitoria (yaupon)
Illicium floridanum (Florida anise tree)
Juniperus communis (common juniper)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Leucothoe axillaris (coast leucothoe)
Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle, southern bayberry, candleberry)
Rhododendron carolinianum (Carolina rhododendron)
Rhododendron catawbiense (purple rhododendron, red laurel)
Sabal minor (dwarf palmetto)
Serenoa repens (saw palmetto)
Trees (deciduous)
Acer barbatum (Florida maple, southern sugar maple)
Acer leucoderme (chalk maple)
Acer negundo (box elder)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Aesculus flava (sweet buckeye, yellow buckeye)
Aesculus glabra (Ohio buckeye, horse chestnut)
Aesculus pavia var. pavia (red buckeye)
Betula lenta (cherry birch)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (blue beech, hornbeam, muscle wood)
Carya alba (mockernut hickory)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut, swamp hickory)
Carya illinoinensis (pecan)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Celtis laevigata (sugarberry, hackberry)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry, sugarberry)
Cercis canadensis (redbud)
Chionanthus virginicus (fringe tree, old man's beard)
Cladrastis kentukea (yellowwood)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Cotinus obovatus (smoke tree)
Crataegus mollis (downy hawthorn)
Crataegus crus-galli (cockspur hawthorn)
Cyrilla racemiflora (leatherwood, yiti)
Diospyros virginiana (persimmon)
Fagus grandifolia var. caroliniana (beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (green ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Gymnocladus dioica (Kentucky coffee tree)
Halesia diptera (American snowdrop tree, two-winged silverbell)
Halesia tetraptera (Carolina silverbell)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex decidua (possum-haw, deciduous holly)
Juglans cinerea (butternut, white walnut)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweet gum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Magnolia acuminata (cucumber tree)
Magnolia pyramidata (pyramid magnolia)
Magnolia tripetala (umbrella tree)
Magnolia virginiana (sweetbay, swampbay)
Malus angustifolia (southern crabapple, wild crabapple)
Nyssa sylvatica (black gum, tupelo)
Ostrya virginiana (ironwood, hop hornbeam)
Oxydendrum arboreum (sourwood)
Platanus occidentalis (sycamore, plane-tree)
Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood)
Prunus americana (wild plum)
Prunus angustifolia (chickasaw plum)
Prunus mexicana (Mexican plum)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Ptelea trifoliata (wafer ash, common hop tree)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus bicolor (swamp white oak)
Quercus coccinea (scarlet oak)
Quercus falcata (southern red oak, Spanish oak)
Quercus laurifolia (laurel oak)
Quercus lyrata (overcup oak)
Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak)
Quercus marilandica (blackjack oak)
Quercus muhlenbergii (chinkapin oak, chestnut oak)
Quercus phellos (willow oak)
Quercus prinus (rock chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus shumardii (shumard oak)
Quercus stellata (post oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Salix nigra (black willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Taxodium distichum (bald cypress)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Ulmus rubra (red elm, slippery elm)
Trees (evergreen)
Chamaecyparis thyoides (white cedar)
Ilex opaca (American holly, Christmas holly)
Juniperus virginiana (eastern red cedar)
Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia)
Magnolia macrophylla (umbrella tree)
Persea borbonia (red bay)
Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine)
Pinus elliotii (slash, pitch, or yellow slash pine)
Pinus glabra (spruce pine)
Pinus palustris (longleaf pine)
Pinus taeda (loblolly pine)
Pinus virginiana (Virginia pine)
Prunus caroliniana (cherry laurel)
Quercus virginiana (live oak, coastal live oak, southern live oak)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Vines (deciduous)
Bignonia capreolata (cross vine)
Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper, trumpet vine)
Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet)
Clematis crispa (leather flower)
Clematis virginiana (virgin's bower)
Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Passiflora incarnata (passion flower, maypop)
Vitis riparia (riverbank grape)
Vitis rotundifolia (muscadine grape)
Vines (evergreen)
Gelsemium sempervirens (yellow jessamine, Carolina jessamine)
Federally Listed Endangered Species
Listed species under Fish and Wildlife Service jurisdiction
Alabama canebrake pitcher-plant (Sarracenia rubra ssp. Alabamensis)
Alabama leather-flower (Clematis socialis)
Alabama streak-sorus fern (Thelypteris pilosa var. Alabamensis)
American hart's-tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium var. Americanum)
Gentian pinkroot (Spigelia gentianoides)
Green pitcher-plant (Sarracenia oreophila)
Harperella (Ptilimnium nodosum (fluviatile)
Kral's water plantain (Sagittaria secundifuolia)
Leafy prairie-clover (Dalea (Petalostemum foliosa)
Little amphianthus (Amphianthus pusillus)
Lyrate bladderpod (Lesquerella lyrata)
Mohr's Barbara's buttons (Marshallia mohrii)
Morefield's leather-flower (Clematis morefieldii)
Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia)
Price's potato-bean (Apios priceana)
Relict trillium (Trillium reliquum)
Rock cress (Arabis perstellata)
Tennessee yellow-eyed grass (Xyris tennesseensis)

Thanks Equilibium for telling me about Carol at Biophilia, it's less than an hour drive from my house. I had no idea it existed. I will probably go ahead and cut the pear tree down. I would like to have some of the native southern crabapples to grow at the edge of the woods but trying to grow them here around all these cedar trees is a joke. The cedar-apple rust is terrible. I have the cogongrass that was mentioned on the Biophilia website also. The only way I have found to control it is to shade it out. It will not grow well under oak trees here.

This makes me think of an odd little dog we once had, who had a habit of burying plums that had fallen off the tree. The dog planted 2 trees, one in our own yard, and one on the neighbor's yard.

Bradford pears and other Callery pears are becoming invasive. An errant Asian-pear-offspring sounds harmless to me, but I don't live in your region, either.

Does it have fruit yet? If so what does it look like?

It doesn't have fruit yet, it's only about 15ft tall. It's only got a few leaves left on it because of fall, but I can tell its a pear by the form of it,the leaves,and the thorns. Are elderberries shade tolerant? If so,I may get some of those to plant in the woods. I have a lot of the native wax myrtle but have had to cut alot of it out to be able to get access to the privet. But it usually resprouts well.

They're actually a big cause of concern because of their ability to hybridize. What escambiaguy probably has is a Calleryana pear exhibiting the dominant thorniness gene. The flowers get pollinated by other Calleryana pears and they are reverting to their thorny "type". Expect to see more of this given the sheer numbers of these trees that were and continue to be planted. When possible, Calleryana Pears should be removed from the landscape.

I'm done for the day preparing appetizers for the next few days so I've got a little bit of time to give you some food for thought regarding why these pears are anything but beneficial to birds.

I believe Callery Pear fruits are sorely lacking in lipids.
http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleId=842&issueId=64

Native plants, as a general rule, have far greater nutritional value to North American wildlife as for lack of a simpler explanation... they have evolved together over thousands of years. For all practical purposes, we starve out our native fauna by allowing exotic invasive species to out compete native flora.

http://www.windstar.org/features/nativeplants.htm

Starlings, a non native species of bird which out compete native species, roost in dense vegetation such as that afforded by... Callery Pears. Incidentally, starlings do eat the fruit of the Callery Pears although many native species can't or won't.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/mecklenburg/depts/hort/wild/

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Sturnus_vulgaris.html

Not all non native plant species upset balance. There are many well behaved plants that do not invade or possess the propensity for same. Unfortunately, current scientific data out there is pointing to Calleryana Pears as being highly invasive as much so if not even more so than Chinese Tallow, Buckthorn, Kudzu, and Tree of Heavens.

It never ceases to disappoint me how some nurseries market Callery Pears. Please note there is no mention of the Aristocrat being a Callery Pear that may hybridize with other Callery Pears at the web site listed below. This is how it is that an unsuspecting public comes to purchase many types of plants which spread rampantly across the countryside displacing native vegetation that our wildlife so desperately needs to survive. This particular retailer happened to pop up first in my search but they are by no means the only nursery marketing Callery Pear cultivars.

http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Inquiring%20Minds/bradford_pears.htm

So, don't buy the nasty Bradford but buy their nice Aristocrat instead??? Interesting.

Here's a partial list of Callery Pear cultivars-
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modzz/00001208.html

I believe over 50 cultivars have been released.

Well, the problem here will only get worse. After recent hurricanes when large pines and oaks were blown over, guess what got planted in their place. Bradford and Cleveland pears. That is the majority of trees at the local garden centers. All most people see is pretty flowers so they buy it. I think I know how this wild pear got planted. I have observed deer eating the pears off of the ground from under my asian pear tree. Then they go into the woods and poop the seeds. The only solution to this problem is if the local governments(and I must stress LOCAL) start banning certain species. Or at least require warning labels that say they could be invasive.

Yup, deer will eat them too and when they poop out the seed it's in a ready made fertilizer pack.

The nursery industry is too powerful. They've been creating these cultivars for years and they've got entire 40's of stock to unload on us and I seriously doubt we will see any relief until they've depleted their stock. When I went to Home Depot and WalMart this year, I was shocked to see that almost 50% of what they were offering for sale to the public seemed to be Calleryana Pears.

I've suggested warning labels before too. I don't believe they would be all that effective. With warning labels on everything from pillow cases to water buckets and toilet seats, who bothers reading them these days. Seriously now, if you had read a warning label that said a plant might be invasive without having some sort of an explanation, would that warning label have deterred you from purchasing a plant? I hate to be so blunt but I think it's time to begin modeling how we approach this situation based on New Zealand's policies to be able to get a grip on these alien invaders.

Some plants are horribly invasive and homeowners are rarely afforded the opportunity to see the byproduct of their poor choices. Many species do negatively affect the environment and I think public awareness is being heightened. It takes time for people to absorb these concepts, they're foreign to most.

I do have a few chicksaw plums here, but the fruit falls and rots so fast. If they dont find them and eat them within about a week they will be rotted on the ground. What do you think about the use of white clover for winter forage? Its commonly planted by hunters around here.

Without getting as technical as the other responses, your "wild pear" could very well be the good old ornamental "Bradford Pear" - that stalwart mainstay of shopping centers & household lawns.

The farm we purchased had a dwarf pear tree that eventually succumbed to fire blight. We allowed the suckers around it to grow on, & found that the tree had been grafted to a Bradford Pear - a practice that is apparently quite common with fruit nurseries (this info was in fact given to us by a prominent fruit tree nursery).

Wildlife consume the small hard brown berry-like fruit of the Bradford Pear & we now have a couple of small Bradford Pear trees cropping up in the fields.

I have discovered a fair sized pear tree along the edge of the woods near me. It bears fruit about the size of Seckel. It would be pretty good tasting if the fruits were a little more "clear"[blemish free].

"Without getting as technical as the other responses, your "wild pear" could very well be the good old ornamental "Bradford Pear" - that stalwart mainstay of shopping centers & household lawns."
------------------
Breezy, that's exactly what we've been trying to tell him, almost. Bradford, one of the most detested of all "ornamental" trees due to overplanting and to its notoriously weak structure, is one of the invasive callery pear cultivars. There is absolutely nothing "good old" about it -- it's an ecological menace, and an inferior landscape tree to boot.

Remove those volunteer Bradfords ASAP, and watch out for any additional reproduction. It's another exotic nightmare just beginning to unfold across much of the continent, and as many have seen, the seedlings usually revert to a thorny habit that makes them even more difficult to deal with.

And that nursery that told you Bradford was used as understock was leading you astray too. Bradford is a cultivar that itself must be grafted, thus it is never used for understock. Perhaps they use seedlings of the same species (Pyrus calleryana), or more likely they use Russian pear (P. ussuriensis).

Indy, your seedling seckel probably is much less problematic. I've not seen domestic pears become invasive, although a stray seedling will pop up now and then. They have been grown in North America for centuries so the limitations of their reproductive tendencies are pretty well tested. Still, if the fruits are not worth much, I would get rid of that too. Pear makes great firewood!

Equil, sorry to be stepping into your turf here, but it looked like you needed some reinforcement. Many people don't realize (or care?) what a serious problem this is becoming, and they innocently (?) continue to grow, sell, and plant callery pears.

Guy S.

Here's a picture of the leaves from the wild pear. They are more pointed than the leaves of callery pear.

Callery leaves vary a lot, and seedling leaves typically are much more acuminate than those of grafted Bradfords. Fruiting would tell the tale, but I hope you don't permit it to live long enough to do so.

Guy S.

I will be cutting it down within the next week. I will try to post some pictures of the thorny branches to show everyone what they look like.

here's a picture of the tree.

here's the thorns

Looks like something in my yard. Are the flowers pink?
Andy P

I just found it a few days ago and don't plan to leave it there long enough to see flowers. All of the pear bloosoms I have ever seen were white or cream colored.

Flowers on all calleryana pears are white as noted by escambiaguy. Leaves are extremely variable as mentioned by Guy.

Well, I did it... I braved the masses to go to WalMart to get my wrapping paper at 50% off and when I pulled my car in to park... what was there smack dab in front of my face? A callery pear- oh shock of all shocks.

Here's a photo of the top side of the leaves-

Underside of callery leaves, shows the veining better-

I just did a quickie image search and ran into a few more leaves of calleryana.

An assortment of Pyrus calleryana leaves-
http://classes.hortla.wsu.edu/hort232/list10/PyrusLvsFall.JPG

another callery pear leaf
http://www.discoverscience.rutgers.edu/extras/trees/images/CalleryPearLarge.jpg

much variation-
http://www.uccs.edu/~bioflora/Colo_family/Ros/pyrus_calleryana_L2.jpg
http://www.uccs.edu/~bioflora/Colo_family/Ros/pyrus_calleryana_L1.jpg

Who Let The Pear Out? Some nice photos at this site-
http://www.scnps.org/articles/pears.html

Say escambiaguy, I was reading back through the thread and noticed you had tossed this out-

I think it is overplanted at this point in time. The other deal would be which white clover? Common names can throw people for loops.

A plethora of species are out there that will work for you but which species will best meet your needs is going to get a little tricky. Chances are pretty good that Biophilia can rattle off a list for you right off the top of her head after you describe your property to her. Additionally, there is a forum here called indigenous plants. You might want to start an entire new thread over in indigenous plants. It also might be best to describe your land. My property has several different ecosystems and I'm sure yours does too. It would be great for you to post a few photos of different areas of your land so people over in indigenous plants can get a feel for what's going on. Also too, list any species already present that are native that you have already identified.

Equilibrium, I believe the white clover seed I saw the other day was called white dutch clover. As for whats already here, the majority of trees on my land are water oaks, along with some slash and loblolly pines and pecan trees. I also have a few red maples and sweetgums. I'd say 75% are the water oaks though. As far as native understory shrubs, I mostly have wax myrtle and yaupon holly. I have only found 2 sparkleberry shrubs which are very pretty. I love to watch deer but havn't seen as many this year. The privet is on its way out. What I am basically doing is clearing out a spot and cutting and piling it up and then after a couple of weeks I set it on fire. I have got about 5 piles out there now that are about 15 feet high. I am getting there slowly but surely. Oh , and the wild pear is now in one of those piles ready to be burned.

Andy, you might have been seeing a native wild crabapple. There are several species, all very similar. In your area I suspect it's Malus coronaria, so look that up and see if it fits. They have shreddy, reddish bark and pink flowers, and they bear little (one-inch) green apples in late summer-fall. They also have sharp spur branches like the photo of the pear, but their leaves look like those of some other apple or hawthorn species, usually with a few very shallow lobes.

Guy S,

This is one of my huge piles of privet and other invasives to be burned. The shrub to the right is a native wax myrtle.

This how bad it can get when it gets into a pine forest . Almost all of the the underbrush in this picture is privet(there may be some pears in there too). This pine forest borders my backyard. The big hardwood is a pecan tree.

I "feel your pain." Up here it's mostly autumn olive and Amur honeysuckle -- same problem. We still have some multiflora rose too, and we're watching for garlic mustard to make its first appearance (it's all around us). Don't have much callery pear or Koelreuteria escaping here yet, and no Albizia or Ailanthus volunteers, but Kalopanax and Amur maple are becoming problems. In southern Illinois it's Japanese honeysuckle, and if you ask Equil up north she'll probably say Tatarian honeysuckle and buckthorn and maybe barberry. We all have our crosses to bear.

Guy S.

Don't get me going. The Chicago area was where east met west so to speak. We seem to have a disproportionately high number of invasive exotics. You want to play battle of the noxious weeds... I will win. I am in the MidWest. I can guarantee I will win and I won't even have to drive all that far to click away with my camera to provide you with one photo of a monoculture after the next. Buckthorn, Purple Loosestrife, Hawkweed, Creeping Charlie, Tall Fescue, Wintercreeper, Reed Canary Grass (Ribbon Grass), Dame's Rocket, Mimosa, Japanese Hops, Tree Of Heaven, English Ivy, Queen Anne's Lace, Asian Honeysuckles, Multiflora Rosa, Black Bindweed, Narrow Leaf Cattail, Chinese Forget-Me-Nots, European Frogbit, Yellow Flag Iris, Japanese and European Barberry, Gout-weed, Spurge, Oriental Bittersweet, Lily Of The Valley, Eurasian watermilfoil, Baby's Breath, Privet, Field Bindweed, Creeping Bellflower, Siberian Pea Shrub, Knapweed, Giant Hogweed, Japanese Hops, Bush Clover, Stilt Grass, Japanese and Mexican Bamboo, Mile-A-Minute, Quack Grass, Sawtooth Oaks, Callery Pears, Chickory, Teasel, Canada Thistle, Crown Vetch, White and Yellow Sweet Clover, Norway Maple, Garlic Mustard. Burning Bushes, Russian Olives, Autumn Olives, White Mulberry, European Phragmites, Periwinkle, Chinese and Siberian Elm, Parsley, Water Chestnut, Bittersweet Nightshade, European Mountain Ash, Johnson Grass, Campion, Bouncing Bet, Curly Dock, and a partridge in a pear tree.

I am told we have problems with Amur Maple but I haven't run across any that have naturalized yet. I have been seeing quite a few Golden Raintrees though. We don't have problems with Castor Aralia or Kudzu up here... yet.

I am sick so I am going to go back to bed. I'll whack a few weeds with glee in my dreams tonight.

Well, whatever my pear was grafted to, I checked out the branches of the graftee & there aren't any thorns on it - just a few small round brown fruit.

So, the errant pear is likely a Callery pear, it seems. If that's the case, then yes, remove it. Well, when escambiaguy said it was an asian pear offspring, I took his word for it, and that's why I said it sounded harmless.

IF it came from a seed from a fleshy, garden pear, or an asian pear, would you still advise to remove the tree?

I'm thinking of my own pear seedlings that were grown from various delicious fruits. Since then, I learned that the offspring will not be similar to the parents, but to me, that's not enough reason to toss out my seed-grown trees...that'd be like throwing away a lottery ticket before the drawing. So, what you folks say? Are these invasive as well?

This message was edited Jan 6, 2006 6:59 PM

I think the offspring of asian or other garden pears will be inferior to the parent tree. It will probably have fruit not worth eating. Its the same as if you took seed from a red delicious apple and planted it, you would probably have some type of crabapple come up that would be highly susceptable to disease and have tiny fruit.

Well, I explained that I already know that the offspring won't be like the parents. Most likely the fruit will be inferior, but on the flipside, this is how new cultivars are developed, no? In any case, I'm not eager to throw out a young tree I personally witnessed develop from a seed. Just asking whether they will be a nuisance to the environment.

I have only found one wild pear in my woods so far, but if I start finding them popping up everywhere like with the chinese tallow they will definately become a nuisance to me.

Greetings all. Pears, although also pomme fruits, are very different from apples. A seedling pear is almost always similar (though not exact) to the parent tree. Rare is it for a seedling pear from an edible cultivar to be worthless. The flesh may be grainy, for instance if something like a Keiffer pollinated a Bosc, but unlike apples where a Granny crossed with a Red Delicious will give 999 inedibles and 1 that goes on to be Pink Lady, pear genetics are much more stable. Pyrus sinensis, the Asian pear, grows on shorter fatter trees than the Pyrus communis, the European Pear. Left unpruned, Asian pear trees become a rounded short tree, while European pears reach skyward. Same thing with Asian Plums vs. European plums.

Another new face in the forums. This is absolutley wonderful. Welcome to you too. And you seem to know all about Pears. That is great. I have a small little orchard over here that I started about 6 years ago. I have some common edible Pear cultivars here and I would like to add two more this comming year. Come to think of it, I lost track of which Cherries I had out there and wanted to add another one of those also, guess that will have to wait until the following year until I figure out what I have here. I think I will start a new thread. So glad you have joined us here at DG, thank you very much for doing so.

Oh no, my knowledge is an inch deep and a mile wide, except on a few things where the reverse holds true. I have not had a single scientific course on fruit trees or orcharding. I just have a friend with an orchard whom I help out sometimes. Knowledge by osmosis I guess.

Works for me and evidently you have metastasized well. I still haven't gotten around to my lists yet to see which Pears I think I have out there or which Cherries. I know which apples and peaches I have so I will hit you and everybody else up out there in cyber land when I find my notes.

This... is exactly why I love this place. All those inches of knowledge add up and help me put my puzzles together.