If the endangered plants and animals of the Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary are the rubies and diamonds of Provincetown’s ecological crown jewel, as the sanctuary is often described, then this Callery pear growing next to its trail is a counterfeit stone — beautiful but of little value.
A darling of the conventional landscaping trade since the 1960s, the nonnative Pyrus calleryana has a pleasing shape (that eventually snaps apart with age) and a beautiful bloom (that has a scent best described as obscene) and can grow just about anywhere (which it does, invasively). The individual cultivars (like “Bradford”) are themselves sterile, but once two different cultivars are planted in proximity, fruits develop and then it’s off to the races — birds distribute the seeds, and groves develop that outcompete native species. Already declared invasive in Pennsylvania and Maine, the Callery pear is up for evaluation this week by our own state.
In the meantime, gems like the serviceberry have many of the positive attributes of the Callery — a white bloom, great fall color, and none of the downsides. And they’re commercially available as a replacement. —Joe Beuerlein
