Pyrus calleryana (ornamental pears) is a species of pear, native to South east Asia- China and and Vietnam. It belongs to family Rosaceae. It is a deciduous tree growing to 8 to 10 m tall, often with a conic to rounded crown.

The leaves are oval, 4 to 8 cm long, glossy dark green above, and slightly paler below.

The white, five-petaled flowers are about 2 to 2.5 cm in diameter. They are produced abundantly in early spring, before the leaves expand fully.

The fruit of the ornamental pear is small (less than one cm in diameter) and hard.

The leaves of the trees have turned yellow, orange and red and they start to fall off from the branches. The photo was taken in Chatswood, Sydney on 13 June 2017 (winter time).

 

All the leaves of the last season has fallen off and some new ones start to grow. The photo was taken in Chatswood, Sydney on 16 September 2016 (early spring time).
White flowers are in full bloom with young leaves emerging. The photo was taken in Chatswood, Sydney on 22 September 2016 (early spring time).

 

The flowers have 5 white petals, many stamens with purple colour anthers

 

The flowers with long pedicles are in clusters
The flower has 5 white petals, many stamens and one pistil at the centre.
The back of the flowers shows 5 fused pink-colour sepals

 

 

The tiny pear fruit still attaches to the branchlet

 

The close-up image of the tiny pear fruit. As the fruit is below the sepals, the ovary is inferior to the sepals.

 

The top view of the fruit showing the remains of the sepals and the style
A longitudinal section of the pear fruit

 

A transverse section of the pear fruit

 

In summer, the leaves are dark green and very smooth, and in autumn the leaves commonly turn brilliant colours, ranging from yellow and orange to purple-red. Sometimes, several of these autumn colours may be present on a single leaf.

The change of leaf colour from green to yellow , orange and red throughout the season

 

 

Different colours of the leaves on the same tree

 

The bark of the tree has furrows of irregular patterns

 

Ornamental pear trees provide shade in the summer months and are highly valued for their spectacular autumn tones.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank Mr Andrew Orme of Royal Botanic Gardens most sincerely for his kind advice and guidance.

Bibliography

Click to access Fact_Sheet_Ornamental_Pear_-_Plantmark.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrus_calleryana