Sorbus domestica

Description

Sorbus domestica (service tree, or sometimes true service tree to distinguish it from the wild service tree; syn. Cormus domestica (L.) Spach) is a species of Sorbus native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa (Atlas Mountains), and southwest Asia (east to the Caucasus).It is a deciduous tree growing to 15-20 m (rarely to 30 m) tall with a trunk up to 1 m diameter, though can also be a shrub 2-3 m tall on exposed sites. The bark is brown, smooth on young trees, becoming fissured and flaky on old trees. The winter buds are green, with a sticky resinous coating. The leaves are 15-25 cm long, pinnate with 13-21 leaflets 3-6 cm long and 1 cm broad, with a bluntly acute apex, and a serrated margin on the outer half or two thirds of the leaflet. The flowers are 13-18 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 creamy-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 10-14 cm diameter in late spring, and are hermaphrodite and insect pollinated. The fruit is a pome 2-3 cm long, greenish-brown, often tinged red on the side exposed to sunlight; it can be either apple-shaped (f. pomifera (Hayne) Rehder) or pear-shaped (f. pyrifera (Hayne) Rehder)