Culture
Best grown in humusy, well-drained loams with consistent moisture in full sun. Tolerates some drought once established. Adaptable to a wide range of soil conditions including heavy clays. Generally tolerant of urban conditions. Early spring flowers may be damaged by frost. Prune as needed in winter.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Pyrus calleryana, commonly called Callery pear, is native to China and Taiwan. It is an upright-branched ornamental tree. It grows pyramidal to columnar in youth, but tends to become oval to spreading with age. It is noted for its early profuse spring bloom, quality glossy green foliage and often excellent fall color. Shoots on species plants are thorny, but some cultivars are thornless. It produces small, inedible, greenish-yellow fruits (to 1/2” diameter) which are of little practical value or ornamental interest. Joseph Callery, a French missionary, discovered and collected this plant in China in 1858. In 1917, seed was brought to the U.S. from China for hybridization experiments aimed at improving fireblight resistance for the common fruiting pear (P. communis). The experiments generally proved unsuccessful. In the 1950s, callery pear emerged in U.S. commerce as a promising new ornamental tree, leading to massive landscape plantings. By the 1980s, concerns about both overplanting and structural weakness (limb breakage from wind, ice and snow) began to surface. Today, additional concerns about invasiveness (non-sterile forms are escaping cultivation and naturalizing in some areas) are being addressed. Narrow-oval, glossy dark green leaves (to 3” long) have distinctively wavy margins. Leaves dance in the breeze due to long petioles. Leaves turn attractive reddish-purple to bronze-red in fall. Five-petaled, creamy white flowers (each to 3/4” wide) in dense corymbs appear in profusion in early spring.
Genus name is the Latin name for pear.
Specific epithet and common name honor Joseph Callery, a French missionary, who discovered and collected this plant in China in 1858.
‘Capital’ is a narrow-columnar, thornless, ornamental pear tree that typically grows 25-35’ tall and only 8-12’ wide. It may have a central leader.
Problems
‘Capital’ is an attractive ornamental flowering tree for the landscape. It is susceptible to limb breakage or splitting from strong winds, snow or ice, but has better structural strength than some other callery cultivars such as P. calleryana ‘Bradford’. ‘Capital’ has unfortunately shown considerable susceptibility to fireblight, particularly in the deep South. Viable seed can be produced when Callery pear cultivars cross-pollinate. Please see below for more information on its invasive spread in Missouri and other states.
Uses
Columnar shape makes this cultivar a good selection for a narrow sites in the landscape. Group or specimen.