Thanks for the nice picture and information. I was thinking of going back and collecting some of the fruit. I will get some of the seeds out of the fruit, and try to grow my own rootstock. (just for fun) I would be a lot easier than all that digging. This tree was very close to the road, it has nice color, and I did not see any thorns on it. Another thing I noticed, It must be resistant to salt and brime from the road? Most trees can’t survive next to the road from the salt they apply to the roads. The snow plows throw that snow and salt a good distance. I have noticed people who plant pine trees close to the road, they always seem to die after the snow melts in the spring.
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I have found one Callery pear with larger fruit than average. I thought this was a persimmon when I drove by because of how the fruit load is bending the branches.
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Nice Pictures!
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Crab-pears night make good cider
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I found one along the side of the road with larger fruit like that. I assume it’s from callery crossed with a larger pear. I tasted one and it was surprisingly good with a sweet, juicy fruit gum flavor…for a couple of seconds, but that good flavor was suddenly replaced with an intense mouth puckering astringency like an unripe persimmon. It may be interesting if added to a batch of cider, but definitely not for fresh eating.
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This is an interesting thread if anyone wants to send me some sticks of large fruited callery scion wood I have rows of rootstocks I could use to graft. Later those trees could be used to make some crosses. Would really like to preserve these as I think they are valuable for breeding. Would like it better if the usda Corvallis or another entity was interested in these. Honestly I have endless space to grow them in.
That’s incredibly productive after 2 or 3 crosses over 10 -15 years that tree could have some very special grandchildren.
That’s what I wondered about could it be the cross of callery and large fruited pears?
Imagine if you could eliminate 90% of pear diseases and have a great Perry pear !
Yes we need to collect scion wood off that tree and grow it for future breeding I think.
Wish we knew what it was actually a cross of so we could duplicate it.
Callery are exceptional rootstocks in my opinion. They work particularly well where nothing else will grow. Imagine someone wants an orchard but but farmed out old ground will barely even grow grass and yet callery rootstocks grow like a weed.
This sounds like a good pear growing project. Please let me know if your in and want to send me some wood this winter. You already know from past threads if you want to try something unique in fruit growing I’m the right person Che, mulberry, osage orange, fig grafting . I’ve made some good crosses and some of my unique fruits are out there New Apple Seedling Varieties
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The genetics on these wild pears is valuable for future crosses. My suspicion is that clustering callery pear crossed with the others will produce a valuable cross within 2 -3 generations. I suspect the seeds will produce large fruited seedlings and standard callery if they are not sterile. One of these large fruited callery contains the genetics of a valuable tree. It would be as important as Asian or European pears possibly. They could possibly grow in marginal areas like western Kansas, Texas and Colorado not known for pear growing. Like the clarks crabapple they have potential but further breeding is needed. The seedlings of the clarks crabapple might be even better than the seedling is now. Think of apples and pears that grow like grapes. Those valuable seedling genetics have been bred out of many fruits. Everything hated about the wild callery are what makes them so valuable. Imagine if people in the areas with very poor soil could grow pears and apples. Think of them as being prolific like what a cherry tomato is to tomatoes. The problem has always been people’s greed that impeeds progress. They want to get paid for new crosses with patents and they are obscure with their research. Money has certainly motivated people as well. People like me don’t care about the money I want to see the world become a better place than we found it. Imagine how many people a pear like that could feed. A pear like that could make many people’s lives much better.
I realize those clustering pears are inedible but I think I know what to cross them with to change that.
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@clarkinks that tree is a bit of a drive for me to get to it. If it was closer I’d say I can get those scions no problem but where this tree is growing is a place I dont go to often. I really didnt want to make any promises on it yet but I do intend to get some scion if I’m out that way this winter.
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Sounds good it’s an interesting tree. No worries either way. Thanks
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Found another “large” fruited roadside pear this weekend. This one is near the one I mentioned above, in an area with 100+ seedling pears along a ditch. This one appears to be much more like a European pear, with a very upright habit and about 15 feet tall. Fruit was crunchy and sweet, with moderate astringency. I could actually take multiple bites, and it would be very good with a little less astringency. Not very productive compared to the adjacent seedlings. The one with bubblegum flavor and intense astringency a couple hundred feet away was really loaded with fruit (about the size of a US quarter), on a tree that was totally callery looking. I’ve noticed a ton of callery seedlings along the roadways recently. Once the leaves drop a bit, the fruit should become much more obvious.
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That seedling looks very promising! See how long they hang into winter. You never know they could be good wildlife pears if the fruit hangs into winter.
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Look at that one it’s covered with fruit!
(And 5 to 10 seeds each…that may sprout in nearby fence/hedges next year.)
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Most of all amazing-- that 8 to 10 pears came off those branches this fall…16 months after grafting to a callery pear!
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen Callery pears in western Pennsylvania but it’s possible I never knew to look. I believe Bradford is the ornamental type I tried to top work (way too early in the season) this past year. Any chance I’ve just missed these excellent rootstock trees in the area?
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NO? I bet you’ve heard of “Bradford” Pears!
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Yes, as I said above. Are they one and the same? The ones at my office have the tiniest fruit, smaller than a dime I’d say.
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Yep…Bradfords are callery. (Not all callery are “Bradford” of course, just like all apples aren’t Red Delicious.)
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That makes a lot of sense. For some reason I didn’t put two and two together until now. Sounds like I might need to convince some friends with Bradford’s to let me do some grafting too.
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