Thomsonaria caloneura (Stapf) Rushforth

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Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Thomsonaria caloneura' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/thomsonaria/thomsonaria-caloneura/). Accessed 2024-04-30.

Genus

Thomsonaria

Synonyms

Aria caloneura (Stapf) H.Ohashi & Iketani
Micromeles caloneura Stapf
Pyrus caloneura (Stapf) Bean
Sorbus caloneura (Stapf) Rehder

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

apex: (pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
calyx: (pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
glabrous: Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
ovoid: Egg-shaped solid.
petiole: Leaf stalk.
receptacle: Enlarged end of a flower stalk that bears floral parts; (in some Podocarpaceae) fleshy structure bearing a seed formed by fusion of lowermost seed scales and peduncle.
section: (sect.) Subdivision of a genus.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

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

Recommended citation
'Thomsonaria caloneura' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/thomsonaria/thomsonaria-caloneura/). Accessed 2024-04-30.

Thomsonaria caloneura is arguably at its most attractive in early spring, when its young, heavily textured, copper-coloured leaves render it a very striking tree. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 28th February 2022. Image Tom Christian.

Editorial Note

The text below is that of Bean (Bean 1981) who discussed this taxon under the name Sorbus caloneura. We have created this hybrid article – Bean’s text under the correct modern name, with appropriate synonymy – whilst we await sponsorship to enable a full revision of this genus to be written. We are re-organising the Sorbus sensu lato articles in this way to enable a new revision of Sorbus sensu stricto to commence in 2023, and to bring the nomenclature of this complex group of plants up to date in line with modern treatments.

TC, August 2023.

A slender tree to about 35 ft in the wild, with glabrous young shoots and large, ovoid, glabrous winter-buds 1⁄4 in. long and slightly more wide. Leaves elliptic to oblong, narrowed at both ends, 2 to 31⁄2 in. long, half as wide, irregularly double-toothed, clothed when very young with a loose floss which soon falls away, leaving them glabrous above but with a few hairs beneath on the veins and in the vein-axils; lateral veins in nine to sixteen pairs, impressed above and prominent beneath; petiole 3⁄8 to 1⁄2 in. long, at first hairy. Flowers white, about 1⁄2 in. wide, produced in rounded, dense corymbs 2 to 3 in. across; flower-stalks and receptacle downy. Anthers pink. Styles five, sometimes three. Fruits somewhat pear-shaped, 3⁄8 in. long, brown, lenticellate; the calyx falls away from the apex completely, leaving a small pit there. Bot. Mag., t. 8335.

A native of western, central and southern China, extending into the former Indochina and Malaysia; discovered by Augustine Henry; introduced by Wilson in 1904 for Messrs Veitch, in whose Coombe Wood nursery it flowered and fruited only five years later. It is a member of the section Micromeles, less common in cultivation than the closely allied S. meliosmifolia.

Thomsonaria caloneura GUIZ 80 starting to flower on 23 February 2024 at the Yorkshire Arboretum, North Yorkshire. The early leafing and flowering of this species are perhaps its most notable characteristics. Image John Grimshaw.

Flower detail on a young graft of Thomsonaria caloneura GUIZ 81 at Winkworth Arboretum (Surrey, UK). Here, this collection does not have the same strength of copper colouration to its young spring growth as older clones. Image Tom Christian.

Thomsonaria caloneura PW 15 flowering heavily at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire, UK (24 April 2023). Image Jack Aldridge.

Thomsonaria caloneura PW 15 laden with flower at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire, UK (24 April 2023). Image Jack Aldridge.

Thomsonaria caloneura at Winkworth Arboretum (Surrey, UK) exhibiting the typical structure of long, horizontal first order branching with short, assurgent second order shoots. 5 July 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Thomsonaria caloneura WHAP 15 fruiting in the Heather Garden, part of the Valley Gardens of Windsor Great Park, UK (accession 2000–635). 11 November 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Thomsonaria caloneura in abundant fruiting stage at the Plantentuin Meise, Belgium (30 October 2006). Image © Jan De Langhe.

Densely lenticellate pomes on Thomsonaria caloneura (Plantentuin Meise, Belgium – 30 October 2006). Image © Jan De Langhe.

Vigorous shoot and short shoot on Thomsonaria caloneura, an introduction from Jin Fo Shan, Sichuan at Tregrehan, Cornwall, UK (5 September 2016). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Thomsonaria caloneura has elegant foliage, with the leaves narrowed at both ends (Plantentuin Meise, Belgium – 30 October 2006). Image © Jan De Langhe.

Leaf selection on Thomsonaria caloneura, here with the lamina rather broadly elliptic to obovate (Tregrehan, Cornwall, UK – 5 September 2016). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Leaf selection on Thomsonaria caloneura, the lamina elliptic-oblong to obovate (Plantentuin Meise, Belgium – 30 October 2006). Image © Jan De Langhe.