Through numerous Spring hikes in the woods over the last few years I have noticed a handful of beautiful flowering trees. For some time I have been trying to figure out what they were. A couple of weeks ago we were walking through an area where we rarely visit due to its inaccessibility and came across the tree in the image above. Upon doing some research, I found it is a wild pear tree, or Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana) which is native to China and Vietnam.
So, how did a species native to the other side of the world end up in the woods of Northeast Texas? It is a "cropout" or, native stock from which the Bradford Pear, which is so common as an ornamental, descended. It is an invasive species that is now becoming established in many parts of the country.
It is likely that birds are the culprit for spreading these trees into the environment of this part of the world. The fruit provides food for them in the fall and after passing through the alimentary canal, the seeds are left across the countryside in a pile of nitrogen-rich fertilizer where they can germinate and grow.
I enjoy seeing flowering trees in the woods but, would prefer they be native to the landscape. It may be that this is a case where the invasive species is ultimately beneficial, but it is just one more instance of unintended consequences.
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