All About Callery Pear (online)

Join Blue Ridge PRISM via Zoom for our Spring Meeting when we welcome David Coyle as our speaker. Callery pear is one of the most rapidly spreading invasive plants in the eastern United States and often stems from cultivars of ornamental pears (most commonly the Bradford pear). Doug Tallamy calls the Callery pear one of the worst threats to our forests.

Dr. Coyle will do a deep dive into this problematic species and will have a Q&A with the audience at the end of his presentation.

A recognized expert on forest health and invasive species, Dr. Coyle will take us through the history of Callery pear, how and why it got to the United States, and its current infestation status. He will talk about the applied research he’s done to demonstrate ecological impacts as well as discuss some management strategies that do (and do not) work to mitigate and manage its spread.

We are excited to offer this opportunity to spend some time with Dr. Coyle who has been instrumental in spearheading Bradford pear bounties in South Carolina. On October 1, 2024, South Carolina will become only the second state in the United States to ban the nursery sale of Bradford pear trees and any other pear trees grown on the commonly used Pyrus calleryana rootstock.

You can read more about Professor Coyle’s work in this New York Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/us/bradford-pear-tree-south-carolina.html

This is a free online event and includes a question & answer period with the audience. Those who register will receive access to the recording.

1.5 CBLP CEUs