| Re: Unidentified tree
I'm pretty sure it's a Wild Service Tree Sorbus torminalis as Tursiops2 says. This tree does hybridise with whitebeam S.aria where both grow together and produces some variable results.
The Sobus genus has a few "Services" and hybrids - domestica, subcuneata, bristolensis, pseudofennica, hybrida, latifolia, X thuringiaca, X vagensis to name a few and some of them are difficult to ID. We have a local variety up here growing on limestone in the old county of Westmorland bordering on north Lancs.
Your excellent images show a young tree with the typical downy underleaf, the downiness will fade as the season goes on. The bark will eventually change as well, the bole becoming more striated with age.
The tree should flower in late May and produce fruits known as Chequers - the Prime Ministers country residence is said to be named after these.
As with all trees, there is a subtle range of characterisics with each ID feature. Leaves can change shape and colour with age and sometimes the picture in the book does not look like the one in your hand making the identification of the species difficult.
Incidently, torminalis refers to the ancient belief that the fruits could cure colic.  |