Tree Description:
A common small landscape tree to 20 feet tall and a trunk to 10" in diameter, with a dense, oval, symmetrical crown. Common cultivars are 'Bradford' and 'Aristocrat.'
Range/Site Description:
Native to China and Korea, pear cultivars are widely planted in Texas, especially in small spaces and on commercial development sites due to its price, availability, and tolerance of a wide range of soils and conditions, including drought.
Leaf:
Simple, alternate, ovate to vaguely heart-shaped, 2" to 4" long, with a faintly-toothed, undulating leaf edge. Leaves are dark green and glossy during the growing season, turning brilliant colors of orange, red, and purple ('Bradford') or yellow ('Aristocrat') in the fall.
Flower:
Showy clusters of perfect, white flowers, each five-petaled and 0.5" across, appear before the leaves in early spring.
Fruit:
A round, hard pear, about 0.33" to 0.5" in diameter, tan in color and persistent.
Bark:
Thin, brown, smooth, and shiny on young trees, developing gray-black, ridged-and-furrowed bark on older trunks. No thorns.
Wood:
Sold in the nursery trade for landscape plantings.
Similar Species:
Crabapple varieties (Malus spp.) are often planted for wildlife and landscape value
Interesting Facts:
Sometimes escapes into wild or unmaintained areas; invasive in some states.
