Nursery Sale of Bradford Pear Banned in South Carolina

The ban on sales will begin October 1, 2024, which is the annual nursery licensing renewal date in South Carolina. Ohio will become the first state on January 1, 2023, after passing regulations banning the sale of the species in 2018 with a 5-year grandfathering period.

The additions of Pyrus calleryana — or Callery pear — along with three species of Elaeagnus, met the approval of state agency representatives and the director of Clemson’s Regulatory and Public Service Programs. The clock is now ticking on a grandfathering period of a little more than 3 years for the nursery industry to comply with the new regulations by ceasing sale of these plant species.

Callery pears have nasty thorns that can damage everything from tractor tires to livestock and also damage the ecosystem by crowding out native plants.

Bradford pears were once touted as sterile, but it turns out that if pollen from any other Pyrus species gets into Bradford pear flowers, the trees can make viable seeds. Those seeds are then eaten by birds and other animals and spread across the Southeastern landscape, contributing directly to one of the worst invasive plant species in the region—the Callery pear.

Read the full article: Invasive Bradford pear, 3 other species to be banned for sale in SC