Pear rootstock identification

[gunfun13]

Last spring, against my better judgement, I purchased a Kieffer Pear from TSC. Stuck it in a tree tube, it lived up to expectations by not leafing out, and I ignored it the rest of the year. A few weeks ago I went to replace the tree and noticed some leaves popping above the graft, so I left it. Checked yesterday, a few inches of new growth above graft, but below the leaves were different. If I didn't know better I would have thought it was a mulberry, but that can't be, could it? What kind of rootstock is this pear grafted to?

 

[gunfun13]

Did some research and appears to be hawthorn. I know it can me used as a pear rootstock, but is it common to use for commercially sold pears? Any major downsides?

 

[Prof.Kent]

I've heard quince rootstock is sometimes used.

 

[homerj1]

Are you 100% sure it's the tree you planted, and a bird didn't just crap a mulberry seed down your tube?

 

[gunfun13]

Are you 100% sure it's the tree you planted, and a bird didn't just crap a mulberry seed down your tube?

Yes, 100% sure it's the tree I planted and fairly certain now that it's a hawthorn rootstock.

 

[Lucky_P]

Looks like hawthorn to me too.
I've purposely grafted a few pears onto cockspur hawthorn here, just to see what they'd do. Very dwarfing to the pear.

 

[Telemark]

Doesn't look like my Quince trees. Could well be a hawthorn.

 

[homerj1]

I'm unaware of any commercial operations using hawthorn as pear rootstock. I suppose it's possible a hawthorn rootstock got mixed in with pear rootstocks and then was grafted. That would be a good reason for the graft to fail. Pear to hawthorn is possible, but the resulting tree would almost certainly be very, very small and quite short lived.

 

[b116757]

I'm unaware of any commercial operations using hawthorn as pear rootstock. I suppose it's possible a hawthorn rootstock got mixed in with pear rootstocks and then was grafted. That would be a good reason for the graft to fail. Pear to hawthorn is possible, but the resulting tree would almost certainly be very, very small and quite short lived.

Honestly it wouldn’t surprise me at all for box stores to be pedaling such trees at all.

 

[homerj1]

Honestly it wouldn’t surprise me at all for box stores to be pedaling such trees at all.

Box stores don't graft their own trees, they buy them in huge quantities from commercial nurseries.

 

[b116757]

Box stores don't graft their own trees, they buy them in huge quantities from commercial nurseries.

Agree completely doesn’t however alter my assessment of the situation.