Do Aristocrat Pear Trees Produce Edible Pears?

Meanwhile, the “Aristocrat” is a cultivar of this Callery pear tree (Pyrus calleryana), which grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9. These trees are known more for their beautiful, showy leaf than they’re for their fruit. The tiny little across pears that these trees create are hard and nearly inedible, with an unpleasantly bitter flavor.

Not Your Typical Pear

“Aristocrat” Callery pear trees are commonly planted by landscapers in both urban and suburban places because these ornamental trees are sturdy and create dazzling clusters of showy white blossoms in the spring. Their green, glossy deciduous leaves also turn beautiful shades of purple, red, yellow and orange in the autumn. Although famous for their flowers and colorful foliage, the trees also create round, pea-sized fruits in shades of tan and brown, that are much less than 1/2 inch in diameter. The fruits are not considered edible, based on Iowa State University Extension. They are small, hard and bitter, just softening and sweetening a bit after thawing from a winter frost.

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

While the fruit of this “Aristocrat” tree is not considered poisonous, it’s classified as inedible depending on its size, hard texture and bitter flavor. The little fruits are not ornamental, but they don’t attract songbirds and other wildlife to the tree which like feeding them, according to the University of Florida IFAS Extension.

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