Bradford pear trees are blooming across the city and countryside.
Not only do some find the blooms malodorous, the trees are actually invasive, Southwind Extension District’s Horticulture Agent Krista Harding said. The Bradford pear, which comes from the callery pear family, was assumed to be sterile but is not, Harding said. It now cross-pollinates with other cultivars of callery pear to produce hybrid offspring. Wildlife then ingest and spread the seed.
The Bradford pear became popular as a street tree in the 1960s, but are no longer recommended because their structure makes them susceptible to breakage in high winds, snow and ice.
Some states are trying to remove them. In South Carolina, the state will provide a free native tree to those who prove they’ve cut down a Bradford pear.
