Whitebeam

Whitebeam
Common whitebeam flowers
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subtribe: Malinae
Genus: Aria
(Pers.) J.Jacq. ex Host
Synonyms
  • Torminaria (DC.) M.Roem.

The whitebeams are members of the family Rosaceae, comprising the genus Aria. They are deciduous trees with simple or lobed leaves, arranged alternately. They are related to the rowans, and many of the endemic restricted-range apomictic microspecies of whitebeam in Europe are thought to derive from hybrids between the common whitebeam and the European rowan. Some are also thought to be hybrids with the wild service tree, and the service tree of Fontainebleau found in French woodlands.

The best known species is the common whitebeam, a columnar tree which grows to 25 m (82 ft) tall by 10 m (33 ft) broad, with clusters of white flowers in spring followed by speckled red berries in autumn (fall).[1]

  1. ^ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.