Service Tree

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Sorbus domestica FruitsLeaves BotGardBln0906a.JPG


Plant Characteristics
Habit   tree

Height: 30 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 30. to 50 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 50.
Width: 30 ft"ft" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 30.
Lifespan: perennial
Bloom: early spring, mid spring, late spring
Cultivation
Exposure: sun
Features: deciduous, flowers
USDA Zones: 6 to 10
Flower features: white
Scientific Names

Rosaceae >

Sorbus >

domestica >

L. >


Sorbus domestica (Service Tree, or sometimes True Service Tree to distinguish it from the Wild Service Tree; syn. Cormus domestica (L.) Spach) is a species of Sorbus native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa (Atlas Mountains), and southwest Asia (east to the Caucasus).[1][2][3][4][5]

It is a deciduous tree growing to 15–20 m (rarely to 30 m) tall with a trunk up to 1 m diameter, though can also be a shrub 2–3 m tall on exposed sites. The bark is brown, smooth on young trees, becoming fissured and flaky on old trees. The winter buds are green, with a sticky resinous coating. The leaves are 15–25 cm long, pinnate with 13-21 leaflets 3–6 cm long and 1 cm broad, with a bluntly acute apex, and a serrated margin on the outer half or two thirds of the leaflet. The flowers are 13–18 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 creamy-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 10–14 cm diameter in late spring, and are hermaphrodite and insect pollinated. The fruit is a pome 2–3 cm long, greenish-brown, often tinged red on the side exposed to sunlight; it can be either apple-shaped (f. pomifera (Hayne) Rehder) or pear-shaped (f. pyrifera (Hayne) Rehder).[1][2][3][4]

It is a long-lived tree, with ages of 300–400 years estimated for some in Britain.[4]


Read about Service Tree in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Sorbus domestica, Linn. (Pyrus Sorbus, Gaertn. P. domestica. Smith. Cormus domestica, Spach). Service Tree. Fig. 3650. Round-headed tree, 30-60 ft. high: winter buds glutinous: petioles tomentose; lfts. 11-17, obovate-oblong to oblong, sharply and rather coarsely serrate, with acuminate teeth, usually entire near the base, green and glabrous above, floccose-tomentose beneath, at least when young, 1-2 1/2 in. long: fls. white, 1/2 in. across, in broadly pyramidal rather loose, tomentose corymbs: fr. 1/2 – 1 1/4 in. across, usually yellowish, with red or orange cheek, apple-shaped in var. maliformis, Lodd., pear-shaped in var. pyriformis, Lodd. May. S. Eu., N. Afr., and W. Asia.—This species is often confounded with the European mountain-ash, from which it is almost indistinguishable without frs. or fls., except by the glutinous winter buds. CH


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.


Cultivation

Propagation

Pests and diseases

Varieties

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Rotach, P. (1995). Service tree Sorbus domestica Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use. EUFORGEN. Available online (pdf file)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Mitchell, A. F. (1974). A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-212035-6
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hampton, M., & Kay, Q. O. N. (1995). Sorbus domestica L., new to Wales and the British Isles. Watsonia 20 (4): 379-384. Available online (pdf file)
  5. Hampton, M. (1996). Sorbus domestica L. - comparative morphology and habitats. BSBI News 73.

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