Wild Service Tree Seed

Sorbus torminalis

£4.00£12.00 inc. VAT

Wild Service Tree is an attractive medium sized deciduous tree with Maple like leaves. They turn from a glossy dark green to bronze yellow in the autumn. The fruits start spherical and when ripe become elongated and are russet brown with darker spots, hence the name ‘Chequer Tree’. They need to be ‘bletted’ (left to go almost bad and soft) to render them edible! Pubs called ‘The Chequers’ are named after the tree rather than the board game, possibly because they used to serve beer/wine made from the fruit.  The timber is used as a reddish/orange decorative veneer. There is a great specimen in the environs of Lower Brockhampton Manor  (National Trust), but generally the tree is quite rare

Earn up to 12 Points.

SKU: sotor1 Category:

Description

Sorbus torminalis

Common name: Chequer Tree / Wild Service Tree.

Native: Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa.

Provenance: European

Size and spread (10 years): 4m x 3m

Treatment required: Mildly dormant requires 16 weeks stratification.

Germinal seeds / kg: 30000

Ideal sowing period: Spring

Soil conditions: Most soils especially deep loams, but will also thrive on chalky soils.

Planting instructions: better in a light open spot

Mature height: 20m

pic courtesy of Andrew Dunn, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Additional information

Weight 5.00 g
Genus

Sorbus

Size

Mini Seed Pack (approx 25 seeds), Seed Pack (approx 200 seeds)

Family

Rosaceae

Flowering Month

May, June

Colour

white

Hardiness

Hardy

Life Cycle

tree

Evergreen

deciduous

Interest

autumn foliage, flowers, fruit