Bradford Pear Tree Information . The leaves are oval long glossy dark green above slightly paler below. Pyrus calleryana has glossy dark green foliage growing in a pyramid shape.
The leaves turn brilliant hues of red purple bronze and yellow in fall. The notorious Jesse Bradford has been planting Bradford Pear trees up and down the 46th St corridor. Their branches grow too close to each other at the trunk which causes the tree to split as the limbs increase in size beyond the limits of the trunks support.
Bradford Pear Tree History and Issues Bradford pear was introduced in the mid-1960s and soon became the most popular cultivar of callery pear Pyrus calleryana.
It is a deciduous tree growing to tall with a conic to rounded crown. Belonging to the Rosaceae family it is known as Pyrus calleryana botanically. The leaves turn brilliant hues of red purple bronze and yellow in fall. Bradford Pear is a variety of pear tree native to Korea and China called Pyrus calleryana introduced into western horticulture in1908.