Pyrus calleryana

Callery Pear at Mount Majura

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Identification history

Pyrus calleryana	27 Feb 2024	abread111
Pyrus sp.	26 Feb 2024	Tapirlord
Pyrus sp.	26 Feb 2024	abread111
Unidentified	26 Feb 2024	abread111

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7 comments

abread111 wrote:

27 Feb 2024

I fear it is Pyrus calleryana. There are 4 varieties listed as "new" in the current MIS25 for planting in Canberra - a disaster in the making.
See https://hortflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/taxon/ad959e24-5340-11e7-b82b-005056b0018f for drawing of leaf margin for this species and for other Pyrus species.
Descriptions for P. calleryana varieties often mention scalloped leaves, but this sighting also looks wavy like the @MichaelMulvaney sighting of P. ussuriensis 2458832

waltraud wrote:

28 Feb 2024

Do I understand correctly? the list of species that are recommended of planting contains invasive weeds?

Mike wrote:

28 Feb 2024

The callery pear invasion in the USA resulted from the mixing of 'safe' cultivars. An extract from a quick internet searsh: "Initially thought to be sterile, Bradford pear trees can cross-pollinate with other Pyrus calleryana cultivars, resulting in viable seeds. These seeds give rise to offspring with large thorns, which damage equipment and harm livestock. These hardy offspring, sometimes called Callery pears, have invaded forests, roadsides, and open fields, crowding out native species and reducing biodiversity." That's why it is on the list of Sleeper weeds.

waltraud wrote:

28 Feb 2024

Is anything known about the 4 Callery Pear cultivars listed new in MIS25 of recommended plants? Mike, MIS25 is not a list of sleeper weeds to be avoided but a list of plant species / cultivars recommended for urban landscape planting; google TCCS (2021) STANDARDS, Part 25 Plant Species for Urban Landscape Projects. Wouldn't it be ironic if TCCS recommends to plant weeds that volunteers then remove from the nature reserve?

Mike wrote:

28 Feb 2024

I mean the list of Sleeper Weeds on Canberra Nature Map https://canberra.naturemapr.org/species/lists/52.

abread111 wrote:

28 Feb 2024

Yes Waltraud the TCCS document MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARDS Part 25 Plant Species for Urban Landscape Projects does indeed recommend these 4 Callery Pears for planting, also other invasive plants like Hakea salicifolia, Gleditsia Honey Locust varieties, Golden Rain Tree, and probably others - needs urgent review.

Mike wrote:

29 Feb 2024

Some American states have banned Callery pear. North Carolina introduced a weed swap that shut down because it was too successful. Ohio had it on the invasive plant list for some years and has now banned it.
I was surprised to see that Forest 87 at the National Arboretum is Callery pear Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer' a cultivar that was selected from a street planting in Cleveland, Ohio in 1965. It is also known as 'Cleveland Select'. According to https://www.nationalarboretum.act.gov.au/living-collections/forests-and-trees/forest-87 it was selected as Municipal tree of the year in 2005.
Now known as invasive and being prohibited. How things change!

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