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:
Habitat 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 known
Known hazards of Pyrus calleryana:None known
Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.