Scandosorbus intermedia

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Scandosorbus intermedia or, formerly, Sorbus intermedia, the Swedish whitebeam,[1] is a species of whitebeam found in southern Sweden, with scattered occurrences in Estonia, Latvia, easternmost Denmark (Bornholm), the far southwest of Finland, and northern Poland.[2][3]

Description

File:Apis mellifera - Sorbus intermedia - Keila.jpg
Inflorescence with honeybee

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to Template:Cvt tall with a stout trunk usually up to Template:Cvt, but sometimes as much as Template:Cvt in diameter,Script error: No such module "Unsubst". and grey bark; the crown is dome-shaped, with stout horizontal branches. The leaves are green above, and densely hairy with pale grey-white hairs beneath, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt broad, with four to seven oval lobes on each side of the leaf, broadest near the middle, rounded at the apex, and finely serrated margins. The autumn colour is dull yellowish to grey-brown. The flowers are Template:Cvt diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs Template:Cvt diameter in late spring. The fruit is an oval pome Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt in diameter, orange-red to red, maturing in mid autumn. The fruit is dryish, bearing an average of 4.1 seeds per fruit,Template:Sfn and eaten by thrushes and waxwings, which disperse the seeds.[2][4]

Scandosorbus intermedia is a triple hybrid between Sorbus aucuparia, Torminalis glaberrima (formerly Sorbus torminalis), and either Aria edulis (formerly Sorbus aria) or one of its close relatives.[5][6] It is closely related to Hedlundia hybrida (Finnish whitebeam, formerly Sorbus hybrida), another species of hybrid origin, which differs in having the leaves more deeply lobed, with the basal two pairs cut right to the midrib as separate leaflets. Both are tetraploid apomictic species which breed true without pollination.

Habitat, cultivation and uses

In the Nordic countries, the tree typically grows in forests, pastures or forest edges.[7]

It is widely grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, valued for its tolerance of urban street conditions; it is very commonly used in avenues and urban parks.[2] It is frequently naturalised in the British Isles.[8][9] In recent years, much new planting of "Swedish whitebeam" has actually been of the related Hedlundia mougeotii (Vosges whitebeam), another apomictic species from further south in Europe that has more erect branching, less deeply lobed leaves with whiter undersides to the leaves, and darker red fruit.[10]

File:Sorbus intermedia2.jpg
Trunk, showing the stout, nearly horizontal branches

Nutrition

Fruits average 76.3% water, and their dry weight includes 27.3% carbohydrates and 4.4% lipids.Template:Sfn

References

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  1. Template:BSBI 2007
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  3. Den Virtuella Floran: Sorbus intermedia (in Swedish; with maps)
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Bibliography

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External links

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