How do you recognise Wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis)?

Leaf

Marie Portas, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Wild service tree

Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz

Also known as: Chequers tree

Family: Rosaceae

15 to 20 m tall

Open woodland, woodland edges, limestone soils

Flowering: May

Full sun

Part shade

-26°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Leaf lobed like a maple, but alternate on the twig — maple leaves are always opposite. Compare the leaf above all: wild service tree has distinctly lobed leaves, whereas whitebeam has unlobed leaves, simply toothed, with a white, felted underside.

🍃 Leaves

Lobed, somewhat like a maple leaf but alternate and toothed

🌸 Flowers

White corymbs

🍎 Fruits

Small brown fruits speckled with pale dots, edible when bletted

🪵 Bark

Grey, cracked into small scales

🗺️ Distribution

Europe, North Africa, western Asia; scattered in France, mainly in the lowlands and on limestone soils

🐝 Value for pollinators

Flowering in nectar-rich white corymbs, appreciated by bees and hoverflies in spring

✂️ Horticultural uses

Used as an accompanying forest tree and sometimes planted as a street tree for its colourful autumn foliage

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity; fruits edible once bletted

⚠️ Look-alike species

Wild service tree

Sorbus torminalis

Whitebeam

Sorbus aria

Compare the leaf above all: wild service tree has distinctly lobed leaves, whereas whitebeam has unlobed leaves, simply toothed, with a white, felted underside.

🌿 Other Rosaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.