Trees Planet: Sorbus glabrescens - White-Fruited Rowan

Friday, February 6, 2015

Sorbus glabrescens - White-Fruited Rowan

General Information

Common Name	White Fruited Rowan
Scientific Name	*Sorbus glabrescens*
Sun Tolerance	Full Sun
Height	8-15 m (26-49 ft)
Spread	5-10 m (18-33 ft)
Growth Rate	Fast
Bloom Time	Spring
Color	Green,
Flower Color	Pink
Type	Tree
Native	Asia, Europe, USA

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Rosidae
Order	Rosales
Family	Rosaceae – Rose family
Genus	Sorbus L. – Rowan
Species	S. glabrescens

Sorbus glabrescens - White-Fruited Rowan

Sorbus glabrescens commonly known as White Fruited Rowan. It is a species of rowan and native to China.

It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree. It is growing to 8–15 m (26 – 49 ft) in height and with a rounded crown and dark grey bark and stout shoots. The leaves are glaucous blue-green above, paler beneath, 10–26 cm long, pinnate with 11-17 oval leaflets 3–5.5 cm long and 1–2 cm broad. These are broadest near the middle, rounded at the end with a short acuminate apex, and very finely serrated margins. The leaves are become orange or red in late autumn and much later than most other rowan species. It blooms in late spring to early summer. The flowers are 8 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 9–15 cm diameter. The fruit is a pome 7–8 mm diameter, white with a small persistent pinkish carpel. Fruits matured in late autumn and stalks are distinctively red. The fruit commonly persist long into the winter after leaf fall; after being softened by frost they are readily eaten by thrushes and waxwings, which disperse the seeds.

S. glabrescens is widely grown as an ornamental tree for its decorative white fruit in western Europe and the Pacific Northwest of North America