Bradford Pear invading escapee, Pyrus calleryana
They are "Pyrus calleryana, the Callery pear, known in the United States as the Bradford pear, is a species of pear native to China and Vietnam,[2] in the family Rosaceae. It is a deciduous tree growing to 5 to 8 m (16 to 26 ft) tall,[3] often with a conic to rounded crown. The leaves are oval, 4 to 8 cm (1.6 to 3.1 in) long, glossy dark green above, and slightly paler below. The white, five-petaled flowers are about 2 to 2.5 cm (0.79 to 0.98 in) in diameter. They are produced abundantly in early spring, before the leaves expand fully.
The fruits of the Callery pear are small (less than one cm in diameter), and hard, almost woody, until softened by frost, after which they are readily taken by birds...."
Some of my fruits got almost 2 inches this year, but I'm pretty sure this is one of those escapees. In any case, it is still pear wood and should make some good whatever it is can be made with fruit wood.
There are several of these scattered around the north and eastern parts of the place. I did not plant any of them, all volunteers.
i saw some at the farmer's market the other day and asked about them. He said to trim all but 1 or 2 of the fruit from each cluster in order to get big ones.
from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrus_pyrifolia
"The fruits are not generally baked in pies or made into jams because they have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, very different from the European varieties. They are commonly served raw and peeled.[5] The fruit tends to be quite large and fragrant, and when carefully wrapped (it has a tendency to bruise because of its juiciness), it can last for several weeks or more in a cold, dry place.
Due to their relatively high price and the large size of the fruit of cultivars, the pears tend to be served to guests, given as gifts, or eaten together in a family setting.
In cooking, ground pears are used in vinegar- or soy sauce-based sauces as a sweetener, instead of sugar. They are also used when marinating meat, especially beef."
What these trees produced once I noticed them, are fruits about an inch to 2 inches in diameter. They did have the characteristic asian pear taste and texture, maybe a bit drier than the big store bought ones.
EFG says they are a nectary, can live up to 300 years, but doesn't have much more info than that they are edible. They say asian pears are pyrus betschneideris.
Asian Pear locations
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Each of the flowers will become a fruit. They will be very small unless each grouping is cut down to just a couple fruits.
Pear on left, unknown on right
unknown has much lighter flower center and more like a stem at the base of the petals and toothed leaves.
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Thoughts about this guy.
A farmer at the market told me that they had to cull early to get large fruit. with siscors. In other words, each bundle should only have one fruit in order to get a decen sized one.
A farmer at the market told me that they had to cull early to get large fruit. with scissors. In other words, each bundle should only have one fruit in order to get a decent sized one.
Asian Pear 1, the largest of the volunteers. Very proflific, though very small. Guy at farmer's market said to cut off the excess buds early.
Asian Pear 1, the largest of the volunteers. Very proflific, though very small. Guy at farmer's market said to cut off the excess buds early.
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circumference 6" which is about diameter 2"
At the base of the tree, a largish hump of loose soil. Dug into it a bit, disturbed a few ants, some tiny, some very large. Black.
implement to the left is a disc plow set up to be pulled by horses, modified for tactor, then modified back. Doesn't work very well without a lot of weight on the back and essentially already cleared ground.
implement to the left is a disc plow set up to be pulled by horses, modified for tactor, then modified back. Doesn't work very well without a lot of weight on the back and essentially already cleared ground.
To get decent sized pears, I'll need to trim each cluster of blossoms/fruit down to one or two at most.
To get decent sized pears, I'll need to trim each cluster of blossoms/fruit down to one or two at most.
None of these are good enough, cell phone focus too hard to work in bright sunlight. Wanted to show clipping the fruit clusters down to 1 or 2 each.
Culling down to 1 or two fruit per cluster
None of these cell phone image are very good, cell phone focus too hard to work in bright sunlight. Will get better image next year.
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The leaves of the Asian pear are starting to turn. I picked one and it was soft enough to eat, perhaps past ripe. I did try pruning away the fruits so only one per branch, but think I should have been much more aggressive about it at the flowering stage. These are just a little bit bigger than when I didn't prune at all.
In the right foreground is one of the invading pears, trimmed to encourage straight trunk and maybe some good wood. In the center background is a red cedar that was killed by the multiflora rose that came up right behind it. That's an assumption on my part, the casaulity.
