Sorbus admonitor

Description

Sorbus admonitor, the no parking whitebeam, or sorbus no parking is a species of whitebeam tree found in Devon, United Kingdom. Its unusual name derives from the location of the first tree to be found (not the type specimen) – by a lay-by near Watersmeet in North Devon, with a "no parking" sign nailed to the tree. Although first recognised as a distinct variety in the 1930s (by the botanist E. F. Warburg) because of its strongly lobed leaves, it was only accorded species status in 2009, after various biochemical analyses. It is believed at least 110 individuals of the species exist. The leaves of the no parking whitebeam have more accentuated lobes than the Devon whitebeam, of which it was thought before to be a variety. The research project that named the tree as a species was led by Dr Tim Rich, head of vascular plants at the National Museum Wales, as well as academics from Bristol University, Exeter University, Oxford University and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The announcement of the species, and of thirteen other Sorbus species, was made in two papers in the BSBI's journal Watsonia. Dr Rich stated that the trees, along with other new whitebeam species, had "probably developed recently", and also considered them as "examples of on-going evolution of new species".