Jun 10, 2026 · 2 min · 3 segments
The Bradford pear was one of the most widely planted ornamental trees in North America. But it's now largely considered invasive and outlawed in several states.
Every spring, white blossoms erupt on ornamental landscapes in the US, beautiful and abundant, and carrying the smell of rotting fish.
The Bradford pear is a plant whose history is as intriguing as it is cautionary.
In 1898, the federal Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction Office was tasked with importing economically important plants.
The program attracted explorers like Frank Meyer, a Dutch immigrant who traveled to China on multiple expeditions.
At the time, American orchards of the edible French pear were being decimated by blight.
Meyer made it his mission to find a resistant species to save this beloved fruit.
He found a solution in the wild, the Chinese callery pear, a tough plant that can grow in standing water, thin soil, or dry, stony slopes.
His callery pear seeds were grown experimentally, and the French pears were grafted onto them to make them less susceptible to disease.
Decades later, horticulturists noticed one of these experimental trees grew attractive white blooms and lacked thorns.
This became the Bradford cultivar, commercially released in 1961, and soon one of the most widely planted ornamental trees in North America.
But the trees spread uncontrollably in some regions of the US.
They cross-pollinated with other trees, fruit appeared, birds scattered the seeds, and the pear quietly escaped the parking lot islands where it was planted.
Today, the callery pear is largely considered invasive.
Several states have outlawed the tree and offer programs to swap them with native ones.
Every spring, white blossoms erupt on ornamental landscapes in the US, beautiful and abundant, and carrying the smell of rotting fish.
The Bradford pear is a plant whose history is as intriguing as it is cautionary.
In 1898, the federal Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction Office was tasked with importing economically important plants.
The program attracted explorers like Frank Meyer, a Dutch immigrant who traveled to China on multiple expeditions.
At the time, American orchards of the edible French pear were being decimated by blight.
Meyer made it his mission to find a resistant species to save this beloved fruit.
He found a solution in the wild, the Chinese callery pear, a tough plant that can grow in standing water, thin soil, or dry, stony slopes.
His callery pear seeds were grown experimentally, and the French pears were grafted onto them to make them less susceptible to disease.
Decades later, horticulturists noticed one of these experimental trees grew attractive white blooms and lacked thorns.
This became the Bradford cultivar, commercially released in 1961, and soon one of the most widely planted ornamental trees in North America.
But the trees spread uncontrollably in some regions of the US.
They cross-pollinated with other trees, fruit appeared, birds scattered the seeds, and the pear quietly escaped the parking lot islands where it was planted.
Today, the callery pear is largely considered invasive.
Several states have outlawed the tree and offer programs to swap them with native ones.
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