Pyrus calleryana

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African Boxthorn perhaps? - I admit I don't know whether it is deciduous. I removed quite some AB in the area, sometimes thickets but that was during summer time.
the thorny things that we removed in the area were firethorn, hawthorn, African boxthorn, Robinia, Blackberry, Sweet Briar. lReg colour and deciduous: I found a blackberry with perfectly green leaves in the protection of long grass last Monday - plants can trick you....

It is either a pear or a plum . Pear was my first thought so I have gone with that

that was my first thought when i saw the leaves but I don't know whether cultivars of pears or plums have spines.... The Wild Pear, Pyrus communis which like the Wild Apple, Malus sylvestris both from Europe might have few thorns on branches; Pyrus communis is rather rare in Europe....

Pyrus caleyi has spines as do several plum species grown in canberra gardens such as Prunus spinosa. Thanks I didn't notice the spines which narrows down the possible species it may be

Will see what it looks like in spring

Now I remember that Richard L., the previous convenor of Justice Robert Hope Park who died several years ago warned me about several invasive species which were included in the planting schedule of the North Watson landscaping - I cant remember the species though...

How about Prunus spinosa, Blackthorn? see Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn, Sloe)

Whether it is Prunus or Pyrus it should be tackled - I'm not sure whether it is within nature reserve or horse holding.

Nature reserve - I'll check it out next time I'm near there.

Hi
The comments from above were from nearly two years ago so I am sure you know now that Pyrus Calleryana (from China) have thorns that can go through shoes and tractor tyres when they naturalise.

Questions for the data collection:

Do you think this was planted deliberately, or sown by seed dispersal, or grown from a sucker?

What environment was it growing in?

Was it suckering, or did it have fruit?

Thanks
Kate

Hi Katy
cc abread111
cc MichaelMulvaney
cc waltraud
thank you for the comment and the many other comments you made reg Callery pear we recorded on CNM; I hope below covers all your questions.
Pyrus calleryana was planted as a street tree when The Fair, North Watson was built in 2011/12. The first young recruits appeared in the nature reserve abutting The Fair three years ago. Go to Pyrus calleryana and click on map and you'll see many records of the young CP around the Fair residential estate along with one of the now maturing street trees (Pyrus calleryana (Callery Pear)) which are the source of the invasion. The species was not recorded earlier, Friends of Mt Majura (FoMM) held working parties in the area for more than a decade and I carried out thorough monitoring in 2010-2012; we never noticed a single CP before they started to appear 3 years ago. They appear under trees in the grassy woodland and from the pattern they grow it is obvious they are spread from fruits: some times a small group of young plants grow close together but are certainly not suckers.
FoMM lobbied Government to remove Callery Pear from the list of species that Government gives away for free to domestic gardeners as well as from the Municipal Infrastructure (MIS) Part 25 document which lists the species suitable to be planted on public land such as street verges. FoMM also lobbied to not protect highly invasive species as per the Tree Protection Act (2023) which protect all trees on public land (excluding nature reserves) regardless off their invasiveness. The answer, probably written by TCCS staff, was that Parkcare can apply for (highly competitive) ACT environment grants to remove invaders from the nature reserve. So first spend tax payers money to resource planting, then suggest volunteers to apply for tax payer funded grant to remove.....
We have not recorded all young CP; still I consider what we documented on CNM a prime example on how a ill-choice species invade a site (in this case a critically endangered grassy woodland with high conservation values) where the invasive species was previously unknown.

Hi Katy
If you want to look up the ACT legislation it is called the Urban Forest Act 2023.
This particular sighting is a little further away from the main cluster spread from the street trees, but I don't doubt it came from there. There are also a couple of other outliers to the north of the main cluster - which you can see in the View Map button on the species page
Pyrus calleryana

Thank you. This information is clear, and shows the problem that you are dealing with as it grows.

There is plenty of evidence that the trees are fruiting and seeding due to the spread of weed saplings.

Do you have any photos of fruits on trees in the areas that you have identified as sources? The birds may well have taken them.