natural herbs
Callery Pear
Pyrus calleryana
Herb: Callery Pear
Latin name: Pyrus calleryana
Family: Rosaceae (Rose Family)
Edible parts of Callery Pear:
Fruit - raw or cooked. Best used after it has been exposed to frost, since this will soften and sweeten the flesh. The fruit is about 25mm in diameter.Description of the plant:
Plant:
DeciduousTree
Height:
15 m(49 feet)
Flowering:
MayHabitat of the herb:
Thickets and streamsides to 1500 metres. Slopes, plains, mixed valley forests and thickets at elevations of 100 - 1800 metres.Other uses of Callery Pear:
This species is widely used as a rootstock, especially for cultivars of Pyrus pyrifolia. It is said to induce earlier bearing. The wood of this species is hard and close-grained, and is sometimes used for making furniture and stools.Propagation of the herb:
Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe in the autumn, it will then usually germinate in mid to late winter. Stored seed requires 8 - 10 weeks cold stratification at 1°C and should be sown as early in the year as possible. Temperatures over 15 - 20°C induce a secondary dormancy in the seed. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse for their first year. Plant them out in late spring or early summer of the following year.Cultivation of Callery Pear:
Thickets and streamsides to 1500 metres. Slopes, plains, mixed valley forests and thickets at elevations of 100 - 1800 metres.Medicinal use of the herb:
None knownKnown hazards of Pyrus calleryana:
None knownPlant information taken from the Plants For A Future.