Do Flowering Pear Trees Smell Bad

Bradford pear trees are in full bloom now, revealing a canopy of beautiful white blooms but also emitting a stench that’s often compared to rotting fish, NPR reports. The smell lingers for as long as the white flowers do, making it unpleasant to be anywhere near the trees until the blooms finally fall to the ground.

What do flowering pear trees smell like?

Known as the tree with stinky white flowers, Callery pear tree blossoms (Pyrus calleryana) are offensive to most people’s sense of smell, with an aroma that contrasts sharply with their rose family relatives. Instead of sweetly perfumed roses, callery pear flowers smell like rotten fish.

Do fruitless pear trees smell?

Those Callery pear trees, known regionally as Bradford pears, are large and covered with white, five-petaled flowers, native to China and Vietnam. … No, it’s the tree. It smells a bit rotten, kind of a fishy odor.