If you planted a rare Jesuit pear tree about a decade ago, a former Windsor man wants to know.
Jesuit pear trees — which got their name because it was said French Jesuit missionaries planted them in the Windsor and Detroit area in the 1700s — are so special Robert Holland wants to revive a Jesuit pair tree-planting program. He wants seedlings to be grown and selectively distributed so the rare trees and their local history don’t disappear.
“This is a way to make that history live in the truest sense,” he said Friday.
Holland, now a semi-retired lawyer in Toronto, was a co-founder of the Ash Rescue Coalition that was active when the Emerald Ash borer was killing ash trees across Essex County.
That made people want to plant more trees and Holland remembers people lining up to order a Jesuit pear tree at Art in the Park in 2002 or 2003. Those who showed interest later received pear trees to plant thanks to the Canadian Clonal Gene Bank in Harrow.
Last week he wondered how many were still alive after seeing two Jesuit pear trees in the backyard of Chris Jennings. The first Jesuit pair tree Jennings received died but he was able to get two more about seven years ago. One is about eight feet high and the other is small because he’s been trimming it like a bonsai tree. Jennings would like to see some planted along the riverfront.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll get some more on the go.”
Chris Jennings of Tuscarora Street admires his Jesuit pear tree May 22, 2015 which he acquired about seven or so years ago. He trims it to keep it small but has another larger Jesuit pear tree.
While tradition says the trees were planted by Jesuit missionaries along the shores of the Detroit River and Lake Erie as trail markers, others argue the trees were planted by French settlers. The huge trees were said to produce 40 to 60 bushels of pears a year. Less than 40 were said to remain in Essex County in 2009.
Holland remembers holding a pear from a Harrow-area tree that was believed to be at least 200 to 250 years old, maybe even three centuries old, and was used by the gene bank to propagate seedlings in 2004. That tree is still alive.
“When I held it in my hand it was a special kind of experience. It was like a connection for me to another time, 300 years ago.”
Holland hasn’t worked out the details of how to get and selectively distribute the Jesuit pear trees so they have a better chance of survival.
Della Johnston, director of the Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research Centre in Harrow, said the gene bank has 16 mission pear tree specimens. The bank can provide bud wood for research or educational purposes but it can’t grow seedlings for the public.
If you planted a Jesuit pear tree about a decade ago, email Holland at rhollandlaw@gmail.com.
shill@windsorstar.com or twitter/winstarhill
Files: Marcel Beneteau says Jesuit pear trees, like this one southeast of Harrow that’s more than 150 years old, should be saved and designated the way we designate heritage buildings. (Windsor Star-Sharon Hill)
