Hedlundia intermedia

Hedlundia intermedia or, formerly, Sorbus intermedia, the Swedish whitebeam, 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

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Description

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall with a stout trunk usually up to 60 cm (24 in), but sometimes as much as 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) in diameter, 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, 7–12 cm (2.8–4.7 in) long and 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) 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 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 8–12 cm (3.1–4.7 in) diameter in late spring. The fruit is an oval pome 15 mm (0.59 in) long and 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter, orange-red to red, maturing in mid autumn. The fruit is dryish, bearing an average of 4.1 seeds per fruit, and eaten by thrushes and waxwings, which disperse the seeds.

Hedlundia 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. 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.