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Whitebeam

maggiemoxom4_Ghli5dmaggiemoxom4_Ghli5d Posts: 3
in Problem solving
I have a tree in my garden, about 30ft high. It looks like a whitebeam - the leaves appear, opening up like a lotus leaf, looking pretty. They are white and furry underneath, then turn green later. I have seen tiny white flowers one year, but it never produces any berries of any colour. Someone said it may be a male tree? I moved here 6 years ago and the tree was already here. Any idea what this tree could be. The photo was taken in spring.

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  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    hi and welcome to the Forum. 
    Might be Sorbus Aria Lutescens
    Devon.
  • maggiemoxom4_Ghli5dmaggiemoxom4_Ghli5d Posts: 3
    You mentioned the Sorbus aria lutenscens as a possibility. However, it still looks like this Whitebeam has orange to red fruit, which my tree has not produced. I don't know why. Thanks anyway.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited December 2021
    We need better photos for any ID. 
    We need to see clear photos of the leaves (both sides) and how they are attached to the twigs. 
    Also photos of the bark on the trunk. 
    That photo could be almost anything. 
    Also it’s worth considering berries could be being taken by birds before they are ripe. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Mine never produced berries of any note. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited December 2021
    I’ve seen birds take them all when they’re still small and green @Fairygirl .., and they’re not a type of tree that is smothered in berries in the autumn … not like a hawthorn for instance. They’re grown more for their silvery white leaves. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Indeed. You would never notice any berries on the whitebeams round here @Dovefromabove.  As you say, they're green early on. When I had one in the garden [not for long unfortunately]  they either didn't develop, or must have been taken. Never saw any get red/orange. You wouldn't really grow it for the berries or fruit though. Not that type of tree. 

    One of my favourite trees, and very underrated IMO.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    We have a couple of mature whitebeams and this year they had a scattering of red berries. I remarked on them because I couldn't recall having seen any before and we've lived here since 1984!
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Whitebeams are hermaphrodite, so the absence of berries isn't anything to do with its being a male tree.  Your photo certainly does look like a whitebeam... the swelling leaf buds looked like white candles on the one I had in my garden in Northumberland.  That didn't produce any berries either, in the 12 years it grew in my garden.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • maggiemoxom4_Ghli5dmaggiemoxom4_Ghli5d Posts: 3
    Ok, thank you for that. That's eased my worries  As long as there's nothing wrong with that tree, as it looks beautiful in Spring.
  • cmarkrcmarkr Posts: 142
    My understanding is that whitebeam has a 'distinctive' scent, not sure whether that's just at flowering or generally.
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