Sorbus scalaris Koehne

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Sorbus scalaris' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/sorbus/sorbus-scalaris/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Pyrus scalaris (Koehne) Bean
  • S. pluripinnata (Schneid.) Koehne
  • S. foliolosa var. pluripinnata Schneid.

Glossary

acute
Sharply pointed.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
globose
globularSpherical or globe-shaped.
indumentum
A covering of hairs or scales.
inflorescence
Flower-bearing part of a plant; arrangement of flowers on the floral axis.
ovoid
Egg-shaped solid.
petiole
Leaf stalk.
rachis
Central axis of an inflorescence cone or pinnate leaf.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Sorbus scalaris' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/sorbus/sorbus-scalaris/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

A tree with a spreading crown, up to 35 ft high in the wild; young shoots coated at first with white or greyish hairs, becoming glabrous, dark grey in their second year; winter-buds ovoid, about 38 in. long, the outer scales glabrous, the inner white-hairy. Leaves up to 8 in. long including petiole, with ten to sixteen closely set pairs of leaflets; rachis deeply grooved, winged in the apical part of its length, at first rosy purple, later green tinged with red, grey-hairy. Lateral leaflets narrowly oblong, sharply or bluntly acute at the apex, 12 to 112 in. long, 14 to 38 in. wide, toothed in the upper half or one-third, sometimes almost entire, dark green and soon glabrous above, covered beneath with a whitish, cobwebby indumentum. Stipules large, toothed, up to 12 in. wide, present both on strong growths and under the inflorescence. Flowers dull white, opening in late May or early June, about 14 in. across, in clusters up to 7 in. wide, all the inflorescence branches grey-woolly. Anthers cream-coloured. Styles usually three. Fruits globose, about 14 in. wide, bright red, ripening in October, up to 200 or so in each cluster. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 69.

Native of W. Szechwan, China; discovered and introduced by Wilson in 1904. It is a species of great character but not commonly met with outside collections. The fern-like foliage is brownish crimson or bronze when it expands in April and renders the tree unmistakable when mature, with its narrow, dark green, closely set leaflets. The autumn colour is unreliable but the leaves turn orange-yellow on some soils before falling late in the autumn. The fruits are borne on spurs all along the branches, and are usually among the last to be taken by birds. As usually seen, S. scalaris is a short-trunked tree with spreading branches. It received an Award of Merit in 1934.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Westonbirt, Glos., Gate, 30 × 212 (1983); Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, 28 × 212 ft (1983); Bargany, Ayrs., 36 × 214 ft (1985).