Sorbus minima

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Sorbus minima
Sorbus minima 2016-04-22 8208.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Sorbus
Subgenus: Sorbus subg. Aria
Species:
S. minima
Binomial name
Sorbus minima
Synonyms

Pyrus minima

Sorbus minima, commonly known as the lesser whitebeam or least whitebeam, [2] is a shrub belonging to the subgenus Aria (whitebeams) in the genus Sorbus . It is endemic to Wales where it grows at a few sites in the traditional county of Breconshire, a part of modern Powys. It is an apomictic microspecies which reproduces asexually and so is reproductively isolated from its close relatives such as the Swedish whitebeam, S. intermedia . It probably originated as a hybrid between the rock whitebeam ( S. rupicola ) and the rowan ( S. aucuparia ). It was first discovered in 1893 by Augustin Ley, the vicar of Sellack in Herefordshire who travelled widely in Wales.

Contents

It is a slender, deciduous shrub which can reach three metres in height. The leaves are 6–8 centimetres long and are fairly narrow and oval in shape being 1.8–2.2 times as long as they are broad. They are acutely pointed at the tip and base, have 7–10 (usually 8 or 9) pairs of veins and are lobed one fifth to one third of the way to the midrib. The flowers are produced in May and June and their petals are 4 millimetres long and white. The red berries are 6–8 millimetres across with a few small lenticels.

It grows on Carboniferous Limestone cliffs near Crickhowell on the northern edge of Mynydd Llangatwg in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The largest population is at Craig y Cilau National Nature Reserve where, in September 2002, 730 plants were counted within the reserve with several more in surrounding areas. Smaller numbers grow further west at Cwm Cleisfer and a single plant remains at Craig y Castell. It formerly also occurred at Blaen Onneu.

In 1947 the species was endangered by British Army mortar practice in and around its habitat. By raising the issue in the House of Commons, and inducing War Secretary Frederick Bellenger to order the Army to pull out of the area, Tudor Watkins, Labour MP for Brecon and Radnorshire is credited with preserving the species from extinction. [3]

The species has been affected by quarrying which has destroyed many plants and reduced the amount of available habitat. It can recolonize disused quarries but does not reach the same population density as at undisturbed sites. All the locations where the species grows, apart from Cwm Cleisfer, now have some kind of protection and a population is kept at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowan</span> Common name of a subgenus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae

The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus Sorbus of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya, southern Tibet and parts of western China, where numerous apomictic microspecies occur. The name rowan was originally applied to the species Sorbus aucuparia and is also used for other species in the genus Sorbus.

<i>Karpatiosorbus latifolia</i> Species of tree

Karpatiosorbus latifolia is a species of whitebeam that is endemic to the area around Fontainebleau, south of Paris in France, where it has been known since the early eighteenth century.

The Arran whitebeams are species of whitebeam endemic to the island of Arran, Ayrshire, Scotland.

Tudor Elwyn Watkins, Baron Watkins was a Welsh Labour Party politician.

<i>Hedlundia anglica</i> Species of whitebeam, the English whitebeam

Hedlundia anglica, the English whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam tree in the family Rosaceae. It is endemic to Ireland and the United Kingdom, with an entire British population estimated at 600 individuals.

<i>Aria eminens</i> Species of flowering plant

Aria eminens, commonly known as the round-leaved whitebeam, is a species of plant in the family Rosaceae. It is endemic to Great Britain and is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Sorbus leyana</i> Species of tree

Sorbus leyana. Ley's whitebeam is a species of small tree which is endemic to two sites in southern Wales. It is thought to have arisen by hybridisation of two species of Sorbus, one of which was the rowan. Its closest relatives are some of the other hybrid derived Sorbus species found in Britain.

<i>Hedlundia pseudofennica</i> Species of plant

Hedlundia pseudofennica, also called Arran service-tree or Arran cut-leaved whitebeam, is a species of plant in the family Rosaceae. Endemic to the Isle of Arran in Scotland, it is threatened by habitat loss. It is thought to be a naturally occurring hybrid between H. arranensis and Sorbus aucuparia, probably with additional backcrossing with S. aucuparia. Hedlundia arranensis is itself a hybrid between Aria rupicola and S. aucuparia. Apomixis and hybridization are common in some groups of Sorbus species.

Aria wilmottiana, commonly known as Willmott's whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam in the family Rosaceae. It is endemic to England, and is found in the Avon Gorge, in Somerset and Gloucestershire. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Scandosorbus intermedia</i> Species of whitebeam found in northern Europe

Scandosorbus 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.

<i>Sorbus mougeotii</i> Species of flowering plant

Sorbus mougeotii, the Vosges whitebeam or Mougeot's whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam native to the mountains of central and western Europe from the Pyrenees east through the Alps to Austria, and north to the Vosges Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig y Cilau</span> Mountain in Powys, Wales

Craig y Cilau is a limestone escarpment in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys, Wales.

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<i>Karpatiosorbus devoniensis</i> Species of tree

Karpatiosorbus devoniensis is known by the English name of Devon whitebeam and formally as Broad-leaved Whitebeam. When the fruit was reported as sold at Barnstaple Pannier Market the name French Eagles was used, apart from 1929 when they were reported as eagle-berries. When the trees were reported as seen growing wild on botanical walks they were referred to as French Hails. Broad-leaved white-beam, which was the common name until Devon Whitebeam took over, was used once in 1907.

<i>Aria rupicola</i> Species of shrub

Aria rupicola, commonly known as rock whitebeam, is a rare species of shrub or small tree best known from the British Isles but also reported from Norway, Sweden and Russia.

<i>Aria hibernica</i> Species of plant

Aria hibernica, commonly known as Irish whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam endemic to Ireland. It occurs in most counties, usually as scattered individuals, or in small groups.

<i>Aria porrigentiformis</i> Species of flowering plant

Aria porrigentiformis, commonly known as the grey-leafed whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam endemic to England and Wales.

Sorbus arvonensis, called the Menai Strait whitebeam or Cerddin Menai, is a whitebeam species in the rose family. It is native to a restricted area along the shore of the Menai Strait in North Wales. The species was first described by Sell (2014) and has been assessed as Critically Endangered.

<i>Hedlundia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hedlundia is a genus of plants in the rose family. They are shrubs or small trees that have a hybrid origin involving crosses between Aria and Sorbus sensu stricto. There are about 48 species are distributed across central, western and southern Europe, Scandinavia, Turkey, the Caucasus, Crimea, and also central Asia. The term Hedlundia was published in 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Least Whitebeam". ICUN Redlist. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. ↑ Jones, David. Welsh Wildlife (It's Wales series). Talybont: Y Lolfa, 2003; p. 41
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