Kingdom Plantae Family Rosaceae Subgenus Aria Scientific name Sorbus alnifolia Rank Species | Order Rosales Genus Sorbus or Aria Section Micromeles Higher classification Mountain-ash | |
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Similar Mountain‑ash, Rosaceae, Sorbus commixta, Sorbus × hybrida, Sorbus americana | ||
Sorbus alnifolia (syn. Aria alnifolia), also called alder-leafed whitebeam, Korean whitebeam, or Korean mountain ash, Chinese: 水榆花楸; pinyin: shui yu hua qiu; literally: "water elm rowan", is a species of whitebeam native to eastern Asia in eastern and northern China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
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Description
Sorbus alnifolia is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 10–20 m tall with a trunk up to 30 cm diameter and grey bark; the crown is columnar or conic in young trees, becoming rounded with age, with branches angled upwards, and slender shoots. The leaves are green above, and thinly hairy with white hairs beneath, 5–10 cm long and 3–6 cm broad, simple, usually unlobed (but see varieties, below), broadest near the base, with serrated margins and an acute apex. The autumn colour is orange-pink to red. The flowers are 10–18 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 4–8 cm diameter in late spring. The fruit is a globose pome 8–15 mm diameter, bright red, with a dimple at the apex; they are mature in mid autumn.
There are three varieties:
It has sometimes been placed in a separate genus of its own as Micromeles alnifolia, differing from other whitebeams in the deciduous sepals on the fruit (persistent in other whitebeams), but genetic evidence places it close to Sorbus aria.
Cultivation and uses
It is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, primarily for its autumn colour. The cultivar 'Skyline' has been selected for its fastigiate growth. It may be considerably more invasive than originally thought.