Sorbus alnifolia

Plant Characteristics

Habit		tree
Height:	⇕	50 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 50.
Width:	⇔	25 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 25.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Bloom:	❀	early spring, mid spring, late spring

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Features:	✓	flowers
USDA Zones:		6 to 9
Flower features:	❀	white

Scientific Names

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Sorbus alnifolia (syn. Aria alnifolia) Alder-leafed Whitebeam or Korean Whitebeam is a species of whitebeam native to eastern Asia in China, Korea and Japan.

It 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.

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.

Read about Sorbus alnifolia in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Sorbus alnifolia, Koch (Micromeles alnifolia, Koehne. Pyrus Miyabei, Sarg.). Fig. 3652. Tree, to 60 ft., with upright branches: branchlets glabrous or slightly pubescent: lvs. ovate to elliptic-ovate, rounded at the base, short-acuminate, unequally serrate, glabrous above, glabrous or slightly pubescent beneath, on vigorous shoots sometimes densely pubescent, 2-4 in. long, with 6-10 pairs of veins: infl. loose, nearly glabrous, 6-12-fld.: fls. 1/3 – 1/2 in. across; ovary usually 2-celled: fr. sub-globose, 1/4 in. across, red with yellow. May; fr. in Sept., Oct. Cent. China, Manchuria, Korea, Japan. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Varieties

There are three varieties:

• Sorbus alnifolia var. alnifolia. Leaves unlobed. Throughout the range of the species.
• Sorbus alnifolia var. angulata S.B.Liang. Leaves weakly lobed; fruit oblong. Northeast China, Korea.
• Sorbus alnifolia var. lobulata Rehder. Leaves weakly lobed; fruit globose. Shandong Province.

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.

Gallery

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  Specimen in cultivation, Denmark

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  Sorbus alnifolia 'Submollis' in Arboretum Robert Lenoir - Rendeux (Belgium)

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  Sorbus alnifolia 'Submollis' leaves in Autumn

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  Closeup of trunk.

External links

• w:Sorbus alnifolia. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Sorbus alnifolia QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)