| General Description | ‘Bradford’ is the original Callery Pear and has inferior branching habit when compared to other cultivars. It has many vertical limbs with embedded bark packed closely on the trunk. The crown is dense and the branches long and not tapered. |
| ID Characteristic | Prone to twig breaks, since the wood is quite weak.Showy white flowers in spring and small rounded fruit in late summer is spectacular and is one of the top trees of its class. |
| Shape | Moderately conical to pyridmidal in youth but broadening with age. |
| Propagation | Bradford is a grafted form.
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| Cultivation | Very adaptable to many different soils; tolerates dryness, pollution, but should be sited in full sun.
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| Pests | Variable resistance to fireblight which is so troublesome to the common Pear, (Pyrus). Basically free of pests.
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| Habitat | Horticultural origin. |
| Bark/Stem Description | Lustrous brown in youth, lightly ridged and furrowed and gray-brown at maturity.
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| Flower/Leaf Bud Description | Large terminal and laterals of approximately same size, ovoid, elongated, 1.2 cm long, intensely woolly, dirty gray to gray-brown.
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| Leaf Description | Dark green, alternate, simple, broad ovate to ovate, to 7 cm long, about as wide, rarely elliptic ovate, short acuminate, rounded, and leathery.
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| Flower Description | White, 1.5-2 cm across, borne in 7 cm diameter corymbs before or with the leaves. Stunning in bloom.
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| Fruit Description | Small rounded pome, 1.25 cm or less across, russet dotted, hidden by the foliage; not ornamentally effective; may be present in great quantities.
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| Colour Description | Outstanding glossy dark green in summer changing to glossy scarlet and purple shades in the autumn.
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| Texture Description | Medium in leaf, ridged bark.
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