ROCK HILL, S.C. — A strong smell that many are familiar with every spring is about to fade into history in South Carolina.
The pungent and invasive Bradford Pear tree will soon be illegal to buy in the state. The tree was once thought of as the ultimate landscaping tree, said Matt Clinton, forester with the city of Rock Hill.
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“They would grow in any environment,” Clinton said. “They had wonderful fall foliage, they had a beautiful spring bloom, and they grew really fast,” Clinton said.
That has changed because people have complained about the foul odors the tree produces.
“Everything from cat urine to a fish smell,” Clinton described the tree as its white blooms explode during the spring.
Yvonne Wilson of Wilson’s Nursey described the scent another way.
“I hate to say it on the news, but it smells like wet dog. It stinks,” she said.
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Wilson said only a handful of her customers ask about buying the trees anymore. The nursery owner she didn’t have any in stock when Channel 9 stopped by Friday.
Customer Nancy Cundari voiced another reason for disliking the trees.
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“I don’t think it’s a safe tree to have in a yard or parking lot,” she said.
The tree is known to fall apart during severe weather, dropping branches and damaging what lies beneath. The Bradford Pear also has knife-like thorns that can puncture car tires and leave nasty cuts and scrapes.
Bradford Pears are an invasive species, a non-native tree. It was engineered and brought to the U.S. in the 1960s.
One of the main reasons for the statewide ban is that the tree spreads in the wild. Birds carry the seed, which leads to thick bunches of new trees that compete with native species and often crowd them out.
By 2024, it will be illegal to sell them in South Carolina.
The delay of enforcement gives nurseries time to adjust their stock and sell what they have. Bradford Pears live about 20 years so they will vanish from the landscape in a generation or so.
It is apparent they will not be missed.
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