They've been clearing them out here and some appear to have been sprayed with herbicide.

OMG hair I wish they would do that here! It would take a helluva lot of herbicide to kill the pear forests over here. You can tell where the power lines are here not by looking up, but by looking straight out at the rows of callery pear trees growing underneath them.

In states where it has "naturalized" what is or has been done about that? Do they cut them down in the wild?

Not a lot, unfortunately. Although as mentioned previously, some removal has been approached on a hit and miss basis, it is not uniform and not very widespread. Part of the problem is that seedlings form extremely dense and thorny thickets that are almost impenetrable. The major issue however is that it is a hugely expensive undertaking to remove or iradicate invasive species - $6 billion is spent on this activity annually in this country. Where this money gets spent is unclear, but I'd venture public lands like national parks would claim the lion's share. I'm not sure many municipalities or state governments have the deep pockets to support that kind of expense. And invasive species boards or councils are primarily advisory in capacity although some do muster volunteer groups to form eradication/removal work parties

Do they not allow it to be sold any longer?

To the best of my knowledge and from recent research, this plant is not yet prohibited from sale in any state, although it IS prohibited in some areas for municipal uses like street plantings, in parks, commercial landscaping that requires zoning approval, etc. But there is certainly enough literature discouraging its sale and private planting in most of the areas where it has shown to be problematic.

Part of the problem is that for years callery pears were touted as fast growing, disease resistant, sterile ornamentals. One cultivar was even selected Urban Tree of the Year in 2005. A pretty significant commercial investment was made in growing these and other, supposedly 'improved' cultivars. And they were sold and planted by the tens of thousands. But while they are indeed fast growing and disease resistant, that reputed sterility - actually self-incompatable pollination - proved NOT to be the case. With the development of different cultivars, frequent cross pollination occurs and the self-incompatablity no longer applies - trees are able to produce fruit with viable seeds that are consumed and dispersed by birds and other wildlife.

And there is the ever present issue of limb breakage and the unpleasant flower smell.

Can't tell you not to plant your Jack - that's your choice. But it is not immune to the issues shared by its larger growing cousins - still able to cross pollinate with other nearby Callery pears to produce viable seed and contribute to the invasive situation, still prone to branch damage and breaking and still with the stinky flowers.

Personally, I think responsible nurseries should no longer carry these trees but they are afterall just retail outlets who provide what their customers want. About as far as they go is a few words of caution: This is a high maintenance tree that will require regular care and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Given all the evidence to the contrary, that last statement is a bit gratuitous in my book.

words mean things to me ...

an 'invasive' CAN NOT 'naturalize' an area ...

ken

Isn't an invasive by definition an exotic that "naturalizes"? "Naturalize" just means it starts to spread without human intervention.

Anyway, I think that efforts to get rid of invasive species are targeted to a few "high priority" species and callery pear hasn't been treated as that high priority. (eg As far as I can tell New Hampshire is mostly focused on invasive water plants).

This post was edited by edlincoln on Fri, Oct 24, 14 at 13:08

naturalize - to become well established in the wild in a region where not indigenous.

...seems to fit the actual definition pretty well, although I see how one might not appreciate the term as used in this manor. Maybe they should have made it "invadize"?

Ken, what words may mean to you are not necessarily the accepted meanings. You DO tend to individualize things a bit :-)

Naturalize: To adapt or acclimate (a plant or animal) to a new environment; introduce and establish as if native.

Invasives naturalize all the time. The frequency with which they do so and the wide range of growing conditons in which this occurs is what makes them invasive.

What is being alluded to here is that there is a custom of using naturalize in a harmless context, as in bulbs for naturalizing.

i do not know what is worse...the pear or the use of herbicide......if dwarf calleries would become more popular I would be ok with that....all the natives would easily out compete them if they were to escape.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind why a dwarf version of an invasive species would not be equally invasive..........?

And there is no guarantees the escapees - seedlings - would grow up as dwarfs. Just as likely they would be full sized trees.

Herbicides, when used properly, have no more of an adverse impact on the environment than does the invasive species attempting to be controlled. In most cases, far less.

here's a quote from my state's dept of ag site regarding pests such as callery pear: "this list does not have regulatory or legal status". There are many reasons for this statement which will be for another thread.
On state properties ie parks, volunteers such as myself, devote time to control of weed pests. One method of control is in the linked thread.
To the OP, in one of your previous posts I recommended that you attend your state's Native Plant Society's annual conference, did you get a chance to go? Your state has a new atlas, by all means buy a copy. It will help you to expand your knowledge of flora of Arkansas.
Is your dwarf selection of callery pear sterile? The answer is no and by planting this tree you contribute to the weed problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: Callery Reduction

In some ways it is difficult to get big brother to step in. Also planting and eradicaticating the invasives is an effort without tons of immediate financial benefit. Think of it as paying to remove a dam someone is just going to rebuild. Now building a dam just may generate power and make the area more competitive. Tearing one down to rebuild it again and again is money wasted.

sam_md

No i did not get a chance to do that.
But, i might actually look up information about the new atlas.

This dwarf version i want is so small and cute, i cannot resist. It is just terribly hard to find and many nurseries i contact have never even heard of it.
I found one company (baylaurelnursery.com) that might be able to get it as one of there local suppliers grows it but i would have to buy 5 trees. The wholesale company will not sale bay laurel nursery just one. My nurseries her in arkansas cannot get it or they also say it will be hard for them to get just one tree. But a mail order nursery out of PA said that they will have it in stock next spring so i am keeping my fingers crossed.

I also wonder if it is grafted or if a cutting or seeds will also produce a dwarf version?

If my yard was not so small i would have no problem planting the original bradford but i fear in time that if i do plant it, it might break and cause damage to my home.
I just cannot get enough of the lolli-pop, oval-round shape of the tree. It is so uniform and pretty.
But i dont think it is listed as invasive in Arkansas, although it is planted EVERYWHERE and 90% of them are broken and in terible ugly shape. My church has the nicest older one that i have seen. It has not fell apart yet.
Im hoping that with the dwarf version there will be less chance of breakage since it will stay only 15-20ft.

I can't say for certain it's just callery pear, but around my area of MD (Howard County), lots of Callerys on roadsides appear to have been sprayed with herbicide. And all over Central MD - the understory has been cleared out, leaving larger natives intact, or replanting with them (oaks, Platanus occidentalis, Juniperus virginiana, Pinus virginiana & taeda, wild Prunus, Liriodendron, Red & Sugar Maple) while the Callery Pears, and most of all, the #$&*@#($(@ Kudzu have been cleared out.

I don't know if there are plans beyond that to continue monitoring regrowth to keep things in check, or what.

"But i dont think it is listed as invasive in Arkansas, although it is planted EVERYWHERE. . ."

Here you go:

Here is a link that might be useful: Arkansas invasives