OHIO – You find them everywhere those white blooms with the small flowers with a strong smell, some streets are lined with them, they have been popular but in 2023 they are now illegal to buy, sell or plant.
The Callery Pear trees, other names Bradford Pears or sometimes Cleveland Select have been put on the invasive tree species list because of their aggression and their tendency to crowd out native plants.
Most of the time the tree goes unnoticed until around the beginning of spring when those normal trees turn completely white with blossoms.
“You’ll see it a lot of times in a vacant lot that maybe was disturbed by construction and then left sitting. And then you can see thousands of pear seedlings coming up and they really just take over,” said Dan Kenny, Ohio Department of Agriculture chief of the division of plant health.
“Callery pear often dominates young, regenerating forest areas and inhibits the growth and establishment of native plant species,” Chief of the ODNR Division of Forestry Dan Balser said. “Halting the further sale and intentional propagation of Callery pear will help reduce the further introduction of this environmentally harmful tree species.”
