WHITEBEAM – Sorbus aria: [ 14 & 65 ]
Can grow to 15m with grey bark and twigs. The shoots look brick red in sunlight but grey-green in the shade. Leaves are thick, oval and irregularly toothed around the edges. The underside has white, feltlike hair. When leaves open they resemble magnolia flowers before turning dark green and shiny on top. In autumn they turn russet before they fall. In May, five-petalled flowers containing both male and female parts, are pollinated by insects. The flower clusters develop into scarlet red berries as they ripen in late summer. Pollinating insects visit the flowers, birds eat the berries and moth caterpillars eat the leaves. The timber is fine and traditionally used for cogs and wheels in machinery, beams and fine furniture.
Can grow to 15m with grey bark and twigs. The shoots look brick red in sunlight but grey-green in the shade. Leaves are thick, oval and irregularly toothed around the edges. The underside has white, feltlike hair. When leaves open they resemble magnolia flowers before turning dark green and shiny on top. In autumn they turn russet before they fall. In May, five-petalled flowers containing both male and female parts, are pollinated by insects. The flower clusters develop into scarlet red berries as they ripen in late summer. Pollinating insects visit the flowers, birds eat the berries and moth caterpillars eat the leaves. The timber is fine and traditionally used for cogs and wheels in machinery, beams and fine furniture.
