A popular tree found outside many homes and on walkways across the Chicago area will soon be illegal to sell or grow after an unexpected turn of events.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has added the Callery pear, also known as the Bradford pear, tree to the Illinois Exotic Weeds Act, the agency announced in October.
The invasive trees are currently blooming all around the region “and are now spreading into natural areas.”
According to the University of Illinois, the trees were widely planted in the 1950s as “a fast-growing popular ornamental tree despite weak branches that break off easily from storms.”
“Callery pear is native to Asia. It was introduced to the U.S. as the cultivar ‘Bradford’ for use in research. It was considered as a potential means to develop resistance to fire blight in edible pears. ‘Bradford’ was then also introduced as an ornamental tree and was widely planted,” the Morton Arboretum stated.
Now, decades later, it will be labeled an “exotic weed.”
Dave Horvath, an arborist with the Davey Tree Expert Company in Lake Bluff, just north of Chicago, told NBC 5 the trees were “brought over of good intentions and we kind of let that genie out of the bottle.”
“Originally we thought we found something that was a perfect substitute for another plant. And after decades of being here, it escapes cultivation,” he said.
That’s because while the trees themselves are not “self-fertile,” in an unexpected turn of events, the trees began cross pollinating with other pear trees.
“As soon as you start introducing different cultivars, those new cultivars start pollinating with the Bradford pear and then what you get is viable fruit, fruit that produces seed that can germinate,” Horvath said. “And unfortunately, this species is exceptionally aggressive once it escapes cultivation. So the fruit is very small – it’s really the size of our fingernail on our hand – but when it germinates, it has completely different characteristics than what we think of the Bradford pear. It’s very thick, it has these kind of a thorny growth on it so it’s really hard to walk through it, it blocks native vegetation … it disrupts our local ecosystem. So and I would contest that Callery pear is a bit more invasive than buckthorn. In fact in some areas in Lake Forest, I’ve noticed that it’s starting to push buckthorn out of the way, so extremely aggressive.”
The invasive weed label takes effect on Jan. 1, 2028, giving nurseries and growers a chance to reduce their stock and adjust.
After that, the trees will no longer be available for purchase in Illinois.
In the meantime, Horvath said residents should be mindful of their purchases.
So what should you do if you already have one in your yard?
Residents will not be asked to remove existing trees.
“That’s something really important to consider, is I do understand that there’s probably a lot of homeowners that either have them on their property, they don’t want to get rid of them. We’re not telling people right now that you have to get rid of it, right? Horvath said. “We don’t have those incentive programs in a lot of the communities here, but I would not be against someone if they wanted to get rid of the Callery pear.”
For those who choose to, or those looking for another tree to plant, there are native replacement options with similar appearances that could fill the void for those who want to.
“We have some, some native plants like a serviceberry, which has white flowers in the spring; crab apples – there’s a lot of crab apples that have white flowers. But why stop there? I mean, we have pinks and we have deep fuchsia colors of crab apples … and, you know, crab apples aren’t invasive. Those are a lot of times some of the crab apples are native. Some of them are hybrids, but they haven’t escaped cultivation. And those have been in the industry for decades.”
That’s not all.
The Morton Arboretum has a guide to trees and other plants for Illinois.
Other plants on the Illinois Exotic Weed Act include things like poison hemlock, kudzu, teasels, amur honeysuckle, and buckthorn.
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