Pyrus kawakamii

Sunset

Zones 8, 9, 12-24

Full

Moderate

Evergreen Pear
Rosaceae
Evergreen, Trees, Semi-evergreen

PYRUS

Grown for their profuse late-winter or early-spring show of white flowers and their glossy, attractive leaves. Not at their best in shallow soils but otherwise unfussy about soil, even growing well in heavy clay. Most are subject to fireblight.

Pyrus kawakamii

From Taiwan. To 15–30 ft. high and wide, with drooping branchlets and glossy green, oval, 2–4-in. leaves with pointed tips. Masses of flowers appear in winter and early spring, followed by small, inedible fruit. See Pear for edible varieties. Left to its own devices, this becomes a broad, sprawling shrub. Can be espaliered, but is most often grown as a single- or multitrunked tree. Semideciduous in coldest part of its range. Very susceptible to fireblight.