Unidentified tree

[Uncle_Filthster]

Anyone know what this tree is? It's kind of like an acer but with alternate leaves and kind of like a sorbus with the furryness to the underside. I can't find it in my books at all.

bark


young leaves, upperside


young leaves lowerside


swelling bud


last years fallen leaves

[ron1863]

Looks a little like the Acer grisium - Paperback Maple

Google Image Result for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Paperbark_Maple_Acer_griseum_Leaves_Closeup_2856px .jpg

[Tursiops2]

Possibly Wild Service Tree Sorbus torminalis: Sorbus torminalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

or even Service Tree of Fontainebleau Sorbus latifolia: Sorbus latifolia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Uncle_Filthster]

Cheers guys, I'd checked all 3 of those species in my books but some kind of Sorbus torminalis hybrid/variety seems to be the closest I can get.

[The Woodman]

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.

[lizard orchid]

Originally Posted by Uncle_Filthster

Anyone know what this tree is? It's kind of like an acer but with alternate leaves and kind of like a sorbus with the furryness to the underside. I can't find it in my books at all.

bark


young leaves, upperside


young leaves lowerside


swelling bud


last years fallen leaves

Dear All,
By the pics it looks like a type of Plane to me especially the pic of the fallen leaves. It does not look right for Wild Service tree to me as just seen Wild Service tree the other week at a native site here in Northamptonshire where the opening leaves were more cut and the bark was a lot more rugged.

Brian Laney Botnaist Northamptonshire.

[Tiggrx]

I would agree that it is a Plane

[Uncle_Filthster]

Some kind of plane does seem to be the best fit. I did think it could be a London plane but as the 2 London planes I've seen were covered in the patcy bark like all the books say doubted it, plus the leaves didn't seem quite right. However it did appear to be beginning to get the flaky bark, although at about 10" diameter you'd think it would have it already.

[Jim Ford]

Definitely not Wild Service!

The underside of the leaves are not furry and are more heavily indented (I'm checking one I have in my hand!).

We've got three - two in pots waiting to go somewhere and one in the ground in the front garden.

Jim

[lemuriens]

I agree that it's not a London plane - I'm surrounded by them here, and the leaves definitely don't look like that in development.

However, it may be another species of plane, and that leaf may not be a fully developed one - in one of your pictures it's still possible to see some down on the top of one of the leaves.

Did the tree have balls? (hehe ... heh)