Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren
Speaker 1: Bogel Bomb here. The smell of the Bradford Pear tree
Speaker 1: is likely not what you'd expect if you've never encountered
Speaker 1: one before. The tree is a common ornamental landscaping plant,
Speaker 1: with its springtime blooms of copious, puffy white flowers and
Speaker 1: its crimson foliage in the fall, and it was once
Speaker 1: the darling of subdivision planners across the United States. But
Speaker 1: it turns out the tree has a whole canopy of
Speaker 1: flaws that are driving its reputation straight into the ground.
Speaker 1: Bradford Pear is brittle, needs heavy watering, smells real weird
Speaker 1: when it blooms, and compounding all of the above, it
Speaker 1: reproduces wildly. According to the Washington Post, the tree is
Speaker 1: a nightmare, an environmental time bomb, and an ecological marauder
Speaker 1: destined to continue its spread for decades. The New York
Speaker 1: Time I'm simply called it the most despised tree. But okay,
Speaker 1: let's back up. We keep talking about the smell. Haters, trolls,
Speaker 1: and straight up journalists will report that its flowers smell
Speaker 1: vociferously like a combination of fish rot and seamen. The
Speaker 1: fleshy rotting scent is strong enough that it attracts flies,
Speaker 1: which are the trees principal pollinators. But the tree smells Okay,
Speaker 1: it's still a tree. It gives us oxygen in this
Speaker 1: dire world of obvious climate change, extreme storms, drought, and
Speaker 1: countless associated maladies. Don't we need all the trees we
Speaker 1: can get well? Yes, but the issues with the Bradford
Speaker 1: pear are motley and menifold. First off, it's invasive to
Speaker 1: the United States. A version of it, the calorie pair,
Speaker 1: was brought over from China to the northwest of the
Speaker 1: United States in the early twentieth century in an effort
Speaker 1: let in part by botanist David Fairchild, who was partially
Speaker 1: responsible for bringing Japanese cherry blossoms to Washington, d c.
Speaker 1: The calorie was thought to be resistant to fire blight,
Speaker 1: a serious bacterial disease that affects other pear trees. The
Speaker 1: idea was to use the calorie as a strong rootstock.
Speaker 1: Branches from varieties of European pairs that were not resistant
Speaker 1: to the blight could be grafted on, giving them borrowed resilience.
Speaker 1: Fast forward to nineteen sixty, a tree scientist at the
Speaker 1: US Department of Agriculture in Glendale, Maryland, released the Bradford pear,
Speaker 1: a cultivar of the calorie, to the public. It didn't
Speaker 1: matter that it doesn't grow fruit. It was beautiful. People
Speaker 1: loved it. It seemed perfect for suburban America, a nice,
Speaker 1: neat canopy shape, not too big, seemingly hardy, and with
Speaker 1: showy displays in the spring and fall. It became commonplace
Speaker 1: across the United States. For the article this episode is
Speaker 1: based on How Stuffworks, spoke with Alex Beasley, the donor
Speaker 1: and public relations manager Trees Atlanta, a nonprofit with a
Speaker 1: mission to quote protect and improve Atlanta's urban forest. Even
Speaker 1: he doesn't like the Bradford pear, he said, for a
Speaker 1: time this was the hot tree for contractors and home
Speaker 1: builders to plant. It was easily sourced, fast growing, and
Speaker 1: virtually indestructible, so all seemed well until it didn't. Through
Speaker 1: the years and decades, problems with the tree emerged. The
Speaker 1: fishy smell was one thing, but upon maturity, Bradford pears
Speaker 1: and their branches become structurally weak. During storms, they can
Speaker 1: cause all kinds of damage from falling and flying branches,
Speaker 1: but once the tree had put down its roots in
Speaker 1: North America, it wasn't going anywhere, in part because it
Speaker 1: so easily propagates. A six months after blooming, the Bradford
Speaker 1: offers clusters of seedy berries to birds, who then fly away,
Speaker 1: poop out the seeds, and spread the tree to new forests. Further,
Speaker 1: the Bradford paar is greedy with water. Their roots soak
Speaker 1: up waters so well that they negatively affect other plants
Speaker 1: and trees around them. Beasley said, if only people knew
Speaker 1: that when they plant one of these trees, they've possibly
Speaker 1: planted a hundred others, which have the power to ravage
Speaker 1: a forest's trees, which countless numbers of wildlife depend on
Speaker 1: the tree's invasive qualities certainly stand out. But let's consider
Speaker 1: a counterpoint. The world has many invasive species, thanks largely
Speaker 1: to what some argue is the most invasive species of all,
Speaker 1: we Homo sapiens. As we have conquered the globe, we've
Speaker 1: helped spread plant and animal life that have decimated untold
Speaker 1: numbers of native species around the world. With that in mind,
Speaker 1: does there come a time when invasiveness just becomes reality?
Speaker 1: Beasley answers. Equivocally, he said, never replant with an invasive species.
Speaker 1: This is about as bad as intentional planting English ivy
Speaker 1: in your yard. You're dooming your neighbors for generations. When
Speaker 1: there is an opportunity to replant, to help mend pass
Speaker 1: damages to our urban forest, why not take it? Trade
Speaker 1: out crate myrtle for a native hornbeam, trade out Leyland
Speaker 1: cypress for Eastern red cedar, trade out a Bradford pear
Speaker 1: for an oak. I just do not know how it's
Speaker 1: legal to sell plants that we know are invasive. Ban
Speaker 1: them for the same reason that you can no longer
Speaker 1: smoke on airplanes, it adversely affects others. How can we
Speaker 1: buy a plant that's so destructive to our forests and
Speaker 1: causes millions, if not billions, in tax dollar remediation. So
Speaker 1: what can we do? Consider supporting a local native plant initiative.
Speaker 1: Always check with the local landscaping expert for planting or replanting.
Speaker 1: If you want a tree with lovely white flowers in
Speaker 1: the spring, consider the native dogwood. But is there anything else?
Speaker 1: Beasley said, If only I had a Dolorean, yes, I
Speaker 1: would wipe this tree from the American landscape. Strong words,
Speaker 1: but not out of line with popular opinion. While it
Speaker 1: was a briefly celebrated member of the US flora landscape,
Speaker 1: to be a Bradford pear tree these days really stinks.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article the dreaded Bradford
Speaker 1: pear tree smell isn't very paarlike on HowStuffWorks dot Com,
Speaker 1: written by Jamie Allen. Brainstuff is production of my heart
Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio.
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