Sorbus chamaemespilus

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Sorbus chamaemespilus

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Maloideae
Genus: Sorbus
Subgenus: Chamaemespilus
Species: S. chamaemespilus
Binomial name
Sorbus chamaemespilus
(L.) Crantz

Sorbus chamaemespilus (False Medlar or Dwarf Whitebeam) is a species of Sorbus native to the mountains of central and southern Europe, from the Pyrenees east through the Alps to the Carpathians and the Balkans, growing at altitudes of up to 2500 m.[1]

It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2–3 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, oval-elliptic, 3-7 cm long, with an acute apex and a serrated margin; they are green on both sides, without the white felting found on most whitebeams. The flowers are pink, with five forward-pointing petals 5-7 mm long; they are produced in corymbs 3-4 cm diameter. The fruit is an oval red pome 10-13 mm diameter.[1][2]

It is the sole species in the subgenus Chamaemespilus, distinguished from other subgenera of Sorbus by the pink (not white) flowers with the forward-pointing petals (not opening flat).[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
  2. ^ a b Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.
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