A pyramidal-to-rounded deciduous flowering tree once planted everywhere as a fast, tidy street and lawn tree (above all the 'Bradford' cultivar), prized for a smothering cloud of white early-spring flowers, glossy summer leaves, and reliably brilliant red-to-purple fall color. Plotwright does not recommend planting it. It is now a recognized INVASIVE that is banned or being phased out in a growing number of states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and others) because cross-pollinated cultivars produce fertile seedlings that escape into dense, thorny wild thickets that smother native plants. The flowers also smell unpleasantly fishy up close, and 'Bradford' has notoriously weak branch unions that split apart in storms by 15-25 years old. Choose a native flowering tree instead — serviceberry (Amelanchier) or eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) give you the same spring show without the ecological cost.