Sorbus Torminalis - Wild Service Tree

General Information Common Name  Wild Service Tree Scientific Name  Sorbus Torminalis Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  10 - 15 m (33-50 ft) Spread  6 -8 m (20 - 30 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  White Type  Tree Native  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. – Mountain Ash Species  S. Torminalis

Sorbus Torminalis - Wild Service Tree

Sorbus Torminalis common name is Wild Service Tree. It is native to Europe. It is usually attaining between 10-15 m (33-50 feet) in height. It is very local and one seldom finds more than a few trees growing in the same locality. It is curious because of its unusually shaped leaves, its flowers and fruits which resemble those of Rowan, and its bark which has the appearance of that of Hawthorn.

The winter buds are large, oval (not pointed) and greenish with brown edges to the scales. The young shoots soon become smooth and dark brown. The leaves are somewhat like Norway maple but smaller, not pointed and are coarsely toothed, borne alternately on the shoots and not palmately veined. The lower pair of lobes is cut much more deeply than the others. The leaves are rather lustrous deep green on top, pale green or yellowish underneath. They turn yellow and crimson in autumn.

The flat-topped in florescence, which opens in June, is comprised of small creamy-white bi-sexual flowers which are followed by green oval berries that later turn brown and drab, and become wrinkled and marked with numerous lenticels. 

The bark is grey to black, smooth at first, later dividing into small thin scales which are shed. Suckers are produced. The wood is tough and has whitish sapwood and red-brown heartwood.

It is uncertain to what extent this interesting and uncommon tree justifies its old name as a cure for colic (tormina); its berries are acid to the taste.

Sorbus Torminalis - Wild Service Tree in Autumn

Young plant of  Wild Service Tree

 Wild Service Tree Leaves

Wild Service Tree Leaves in Autumn

Leaves of Sorbus Torminalis 

Wild Service Tree Flowers

Flowers of Sorbus Torminalis 

Fruits of  Wild Service Tree

Wild Service Tree Fruits 

Wild Service Tree Bark

Bark of Sorbus Torminalis

Sorbus Torminalis in Autumn

Sorbus Torminalis - Wild Service Tree

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam

General Information Common Name  Whitebeam Scientific Name  Sorbus aria Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  10 - 25 m (33-82 ft) Spread  6 -8 m (20 - 30 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  White Type  Tree Native  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. – Mountain Ash Species  S. aria

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam

Sorbus aria common name is Whitebeam. It is a rather small tree usually found on the fringes of woodlands, or in untended hedgerows or on crags. It is particularly at home on chalk and limestone soils and is fairly common on the Cotswold’s, the North Downs and the Chiltern Hills. It is probably best known for the conspicuous white underside of its leaves.

The young shoots soon become smooth and turn through reddish-brown to shiny and deep brown and eventually grey, marked by numerous small, pale-colored, wart-like lenticels. The twigs branch at an acute angle. The large greenish ovoid winter buds are pointed, with usually some brown or purple on the scales. The tree unfolds its leaves in pleasing erect cup-shaped groups, appearing glistening white due to a dense coating of white hairs on the exposed lower surfaces. When expanded, the leaves are oval, generally gently curved at both base and apex, and have many pairs of straight veins. The margin is toothed and the upper surface, unlike the lower, is rather dull green and almost hairless. The faded pale grey leaves of autumn strew the floor below the tree, creating almost a mystic purplish-grey sheen.

The flat-topped inflorescence, which opens in May, has showy white bi-sexual flowers almost half an inch across, gathered into loose clusters. They are succeeded by almost round, dark green, hairy ‘bloomed’ fruits, which change to colors varying from orange-red to deep scarlet (usually the latter), the surface being marked by lenticels.

The bark is greenish-grey, and smooth except in old trees, when it becomes fissured and salty-grey. The wood is yellowish-white, finely grained. fairly hard, heavy and strong, but is of little economic importance. The word ‘beam’ is the Saxon equivalent for tree.

An intermediate race, the Swedish Whitebeam, S. intermedia, has lobed leaves with toothed edges; it is common in north-east Scotland.

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam

Sorbus aria Young Plant

Whitebeam Leaves

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam - White back side of leaves

Sorbus aria Leaves

Leaves of Sorbus aria – Whitebeam

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam Bark

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam Flowers

Flowers of Sorbus aria – Whitebeam

Fruits of Sorbus aria – Whitebeam

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam Full Tree

Sorbus aria – Whitebeam

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - (Mountain Ash)

General Information Common Name  Rowan (Mountain Ash) Scientific Name  Sorbus aucuparia Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  5-15 m (18-50 ft) Spread  3 -8 m (10 - 30 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Spring Color  Green, Flower Color  White Type  Tree Native  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. – Mountain Ash Species  S. aucuparia

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia common name is Rowan also known as Mountain Ash. It is one of European most attractive small trees, usually seen as a solitary specimen throughout woodlands or scattered in rocky, mountainous regions. It is best known for its graceful slender outline, attractive feathery leaves and gay bunches of white flowers in May, followed by a brilliant show of bright scarlet berries in September.

The shoots are downy at first but become smooth and greyish-brown. The spur shoots are stout and numerous, carrying dark brown buds, set alternately and covered with whitish down. The leaves are arranged alternately, compound-pinnate, with five to seven pairs of oval leaflets and a terminal leaflet, each with a toothed margin. Their upper surface is deep green; the lower is grey-green, they turn bright shades of red and carmine in autumn.

The flat-topped inflorescence, a compound cyme, is comprised of numerous small creamy-white bi-sexual flowers, which open in late May. These are followed in July by green berries which during August and September turn orange and then bright scarlet. They are usually round (occasionally somewhat more barrel-shaped), and contain one or two small brown seeds. The berries have high vitamin C content; though sour, they can be made into a tasty jelly.

The bark is smooth and grey, encircled by rings of lenticels. The tree is usually erect, but some older trees develop spreading crowns. The sapwood is yellow and heartwood purplish-brown, hard and smooth, but is rarely sufficiently large to be utilized. 

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash Full Bloom

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia Young Plant

Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia Log

Bark of Sorbus aucuparia

 Leaves of  Mountain Ash

Mountain Ash Leaves

Flowers of Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash Flowers

Sorbus aucuparia Flowers 

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash Flowers

 Flowers of  Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash Fruits

Fruits of Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia Fruits

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash

Sorbus aucuparia - Rowan - Mountain Ash

Mountain Ash

Mountain Ash

Samanea saman - Rain Tree

General Information Common Name  Rain Tree Scientific Name  Samanea saman Sun Tolerance  Full Sun Height  Up to 25 m (up to 82 ft) Spread  Up to 40 m (up to 132 ft) Growth Rate  Fast Bloom Time  Summer Color  Green, Yellow Flower Color  Yellow, Pink Type  Tree Native  South America, South Asia

Classification Kingdom  Plantae – Plants Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division  Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class  Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass  Rosidae Order  Fabales Family  Fabaceae – Pea family Genus  Samanea Merr. – Raintree Species  S. Saman

Samanea saman - Rain Tree

Samanea saman common name is Rain Tree. It is range extends from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil, but it has been widely introduced to South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii. Common names include saman, rain tree and monkey-pod. Saman is a wide-canopied tree with a large symmetrical crown. It usually reaches a height of 25 m (82 ft) and a spread of 40 m (130 ft). The leaves fold in rainy weather and in the evening, hence the name "rain tree" and "five o'clock tree" (Pukul Lima) in Malay. The evergreen leaves are alternate, bipinnate, 25–40 cm long, with 2–6 pairs of pinnate, each of which bears 6–16 paired stalks-less leaflets, with a glandular dot between each pair. Flowers are produced near the end of twigs in clusters on a green hairy stalk with many small tubular pink or yellow flowers. The fruits are flat seed pods, black, 20–30 cm long, containing several oblong reddish-brown seeds about one cm long. The seed looks like monkey-pod. The name "rain tree" was coined in tropical India, especially Bengal. Its origin is the moisture that collects on the ground under the tree, largely the honeydew-like discharge of cicadas feeding on the leaves.

Trees are basically evergreen, but are native to areas of Central and South America that have pronounced dry seasons where the trees exhibit semi-deciduous tendencies. But in south Asia its behavior likes a deciduous tree. It is very fast growing large tree. So people like to plant it for fast harvest wood. It is full sun tree and in rainy season it grows very fast. 

One of the most important uses in Latin America is as a shade tree, especially in parks, pastures, and roadsides, because this species' leaflets fold together at night and in wet weather, allowing the rain to fall through, hence the grass can grow right up to the trunk. The wood is soft, lightweight and takes a beautiful finish but is often cross-grained and difficult to work. It is used for furniture, general construction, and interior trim, for boxes and crates, paneling, plywood, and veneer. In Central American oxcart wheels are made from cross sections of trunks.

Beautiful Rain Tree

Rain Tree Leaves

Leaves of Rain Tree

Rain Tree Flower Pink

Rain Tree Flowers Yellow

Rain Tree Green Pod

Rain Tree Pod

Rain Tree Seeds

Rain Tree Bark

Rain Tree Huge Log

Rain Tree Logs

Rain Tree Furniture

Rain Tree Furniture

Rain Tree as Ornamental Tree