A Likely Pyrus ×Calleryana × Communis (Rosaceae) Hybrid Found in Connecticut

Pyrus ×calleryana Decne., or Callery pear, is a native of China and Korea that has been widely planted as an ornamental street tree in the eastern United States (Dirr 2009). It has become widely established as a wild species in North America, now ranging from New Hampshire to Texas, and several states consider the Callery pear an invasive plant (Natural Resources Conservation Service 2020). In New England, it has been documented in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire (Haines 2011). We observed in Connecticut that P. ×calleryana appeared to be more common than reported and conducted a survey to assess the species' true range in New England. While conducting these surveys near the Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester, Connecticut, we noticed a Callery pear-like tree with large fruits. The tree was growing in an...