{{Short description|Species of whitebeam found in northern Europe}} {{Speciesbox |image = Zweedse lijsterbes 27-08-2005 15.29.26.JPG |image_caption = Leaves |image2 = Sorbus intermedia1.jpg |image2_caption = Ripe fruit |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=Beech, E. |author2=Rivers, M.C. |year=2017 |title=''Sorbus intermedia'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T61957574A61957576 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T61957574A61957576.en |access-date=8 October 2024}}</ref> |taxon = Scandosorbus intermedia |authority = (Ehrh.) {{ill|Alexander Nikolaevich Sennikov|lt=Sennikov|es|Aleksandr Sénnikov}}<!--2018--> |synonyms={{Species list |Sorbus intermedia|(Ehrh.) Pers.<!--1806--> |Borkhausenia intermedia|(Ehrh.) {{ill|Alexander Nikolaevich Sennikov|lt=Sennikov|es|Aleksandr Sénnikov}} & {{ill|Arto Kurtto|lt=Kurtto|qid=Q18986716|s=1|v=sup}}<!--2017--> }} }}
'''''Scandosorbus intermedia''''' or, formerly, '''''Sorbus intermedia''''', the '''Swedish whitebeam''',<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17 }}</ref> is a species of whitebeam found in southern Sweden, with scattered occurrences in Estonia, Latvia, easternmost Denmark (Bornholm), the far southwest of Finland, and northern Poland. It also occurs in England .<ref>UK.iNaturalist.org {{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |title=Swedish Whitebeam (Scandosorbus intermedia) |url=https://uk.inaturalist.org/taxa/1277895-Scandosorbus-intermedia |access-date=July 7, 2025}}</ref><ref name=rushforth>{{cite book|last=Rushforth|first=K.|year=1999|title=Trees of Britain and Europe|publisher=Collins|isbn=0-00-220013-9}}</ref><ref name=dvf>Den Virtuella Floran: [http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/rosa/sorbu/sorbint.html]</ref> ==Description== thumb|left|Inflorescence with honeybee It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to {{cvt|10|-|20|m}} tall with a stout trunk usually up to {{cvt|60|cm}}, but sometimes as much as {{cvt|2|-|3|m|ft}} in diameter,{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} and grey bark; the crown is dome-shaped, with stout horizontal branches. The leaves are green above, and densely hairy with pale grey-white hairs beneath, {{cvt|7|-|12|cm}} long and {{cvt|5|-|7|cm}} broad, with four to seven oval lobes on each side of the leaf, broadest near the middle, rounded at the apex, and finely serrated margins. The autumn colour is dull yellowish to grey-brown. The flowers are {{cvt|15|-|20|mm}} diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs {{cvt|8|-|12|cm}} diameter in late spring. The fruit is an oval pome {{cvt|15|mm}} long and {{cvt|10|mm}} in diameter, orange-red to red, maturing in mid autumn. The fruit is dryish, bearing an average of 4.1 seeds per fruit,{{sfn|Ehrlén|Eriksson|1991}} and eaten by thrushes and waxwings, which disperse the seeds.<ref name=rushforth/><ref name=afm>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=A. F.|year=1974|title=A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe|publisher=Collins|isbn=0-00-212035-6}}</ref>
''Scandosorbus intermedia'' is a triple hybrid between ''Sorbus aucuparia'', ''Torminalis glaberrima'' (formerly ''Sorbus torminalis''), and either ''Aria edulis'' (formerly ''Sorbus aria'') or one of its close relatives.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Nelson-Jones, E.B.|author2= Briggs, D.|author3= Smith, A.G. |year=2002|title=The origin of intermediate species of the genus ''Sorbus''|journal=Theoretical and Applied Genetics|volume=105|issue=6–7 |pages=953–963}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Chester, M.|author2= Cowan, R.S.|author3= Fay, M.F.|author4= Rich, T.C.G. |year=2007|title=Parentage of endemic ''Sorbus'' L. (Rosaceae) species in the British Isles: evidence from plastid DNA|journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=154|issue=3|pages=291–304}}</ref> It is closely related to ''Hedlundia hybrida'' (Finnish whitebeam, formerly ''Sorbus hybrida''), another species of hybrid origin, which differs in having the leaves more deeply lobed, with the basal two pairs cut right to the midrib as separate leaflets. Both are tetraploid apomictic species which breed true without pollination.
==Habitat, cultivation and uses== In the Nordic countries, the tree typically grows in forests, pastures or forest edges.<ref name=nfloran>{{cite book |editor-last=Mossberg|editor-first=Bo|editor-link=Bo Mossberg|date=1992|title=Den nordiska floran|publisher= Wahlström & Widstrand|page=234|isbn=91-46-14833-7|language=sv}}</ref>
It is widely grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, valued for its tolerance of urban street conditions; it is very commonly used in avenues and urban parks.<ref name=rushforth/> It is frequently naturalised in the British Isles.<ref name=fnwe>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1=Clive A. Stace |editor2=R. van der Meijden |editor3=I. de Kort |encyclopedia=Interactive Flora of North-west Europe |title=''Sorbus intermedia'' |date=2009 |publisher=National Herbarium of the Netherlands, University of Leiden (NHN-L) |location=Leiden, the Netherlands |editor1-link=Clive A. Stace |id=A digital encyclopedia on CD-ROM}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Stace |first1=Clive A. |title=''Sorbus'' |encyclopedia=New flora of the British Isles |date=1991 |edition=First |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-42793-7 |pages=444–452 |url=https://archive.org/details/newfloraofbritis0000stac/page/448/ |url-access=registration}}</ref> In recent years, much new planting of "Swedish whitebeam" has actually been of the related ''Hedlundia mougeotii'' (Vosges whitebeam), another apomictic species from further south in Europe that has more erect branching, less deeply lobed leaves with whiter undersides to the leaves, and darker red fruit.<ref name=hansen>{{cite journal|author=Hansen, K. F. |year=1985|title=Bornholmsk røn, Seljerøn, vogeserrøn|journal=Haven|volume=85 |issue=7/8|pages=421-423|lang=da}}</ref> thumb|Trunk, showing the stout, nearly horizontal branches {{Clear|left}}
===Nutrition=== Fruits average 76.3% water, and their dry weight includes 27.3% carbohydrates and 4.4% lipids.{{sfn|Ehrlén|Eriksson|1991}}
==References== {{Commons|Scandosorbus intermedia}} {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite journal |date=1991 |first1=Johan |last1=Ehrlén |first2=Ove |last2=Eriksson |title=Phenological variation in fruit characteristics in vertebrate-dispersed plants |pages=463–470 |doi=10.1007/BF00318311 |journal=Oecologia |issn=0029-8549 |volume=86 |issue=4}}
==External links== * [http://www.euforgen.org/species/sorbus-intermedia/ ''Sorbus intermedia''] - information, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) {{Taxonbar|from=Q27980|from2=Q95988426|from3=Q41550410|from4=Q39781911}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
Category:Maleae Category:Flora of Denmark Category:Flora of Estonia Category:Flora of Finland Category:Flora of Latvia Category:Flora of Poland Category:Flora of Sweden Category:Hybrid plants