Alniaria alnifolia (syns. Sorbus alnifolia and Aria alnifolia), also called alder-leafed whitebeam, Korean whitebeam, or Korean mountain ash,[1][2] Korean: 팥배나무; RR: Patbaenamu; MR: p'atpaenamu; lit. 'red bean pear tree' Chinese: 水榆花楸; pinyin: shui yu hua qiu; lit. 'water elm rowan', is a species of whitebeam native to eastern Asia in eastern and northern China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.[3]
| Alniaria alnifolia | |
|---|---|
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| Foliage and flowers | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Alniaria |
| Species: | A. alnifolia
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| Binomial name | |
| Alniaria alnifolia | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description edit
Alniaria alnifolia is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 10–20 m tall with a trunk up to 30 cm diameter and grey bark; the crown is columnar or conic in young trees, becoming rounded with age, with branches angled upwards, and slender shoots. The leaves are green above, and thinly hairy with white hairs beneath, 5–10 cm long and 3–6 cm broad, simple, usually unlobed (but see varieties, below), broadest near the base, with serrated margins and an acute apex. The autumn colour is orange-pink to red. The flowers are 10–18 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 4–8 cm diameter in late spring. The fruit is a globose pome 8–15 mm diameter, bright red, with a dimple at the apex; they are mature in mid autumn.[3][4]
It has sometimes been placed in a separate genus of its own as Micromeles alnifolia, differing from other whitebeams in the deciduous sepals on the fruit (persistent in other whitebeams), but genetic evidence places it close to Sorbus aria.[4]
Cultivation and uses edit
It is occasionally grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, primarily for its autumn colour. The cultivar 'Skyline' has been selected for its fastigiate growth.[4]
Gallery edit
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Specimen in cultivation, Denmark -
Red pomes in autumn, Morris Arboretum -
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Alniaria alnifolia 'Submollis' leaves in autumn -
Closeup of trunk
References edit
- ^ Rushforth, Keith (21 December 2018). "The Whitebeam problem, and a solution" (PDF). Phytologia. 100 (4): 222–247. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
Key to the genera in the Malinae
- ^ English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 641. ISBN 978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2016 – via Korea Forest Service.
- ^ a b Lu Lingdi and Stephen A. Spongberg. "Sorbus alnifolia". Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
- ^ a b c Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.