The Callery pear tree, Pyrus calleryana, also known as the Bradford pear is a cultivated species of pear tree native to eastern China. It was brought to the United States as an ornamental landscape tree in the early 1900s and its widespread planting began in the post-World War boom in the 1960s. The tree has been prized for its showy white early-spring flowers. But do not get too close, as the flower's smell is unpleasant and is often cited as smelling like rotting fish or semen. 

The landscaping staff is clearly an indispensable part of the campus community — and one that deserves all the credit it receives and more.