I went to a property today to bid on a tree protection fence project for a construction job and this tree was labelled as a Tilia spp which I am certain it is not. I am leaning towards a Malus (crabapple) species but am not sure. Any thoughts? Mainly the size of the leaves (fairly large) is what is throwing me off...
Probably Sorbus aria, Vancouver has plantings of these in prominent locations. This species is likely to have been included by Dr Straley in Trees of Greater Vancouver (I do not have a copy here).
The leaves are a bit too broad for straight Common Whitebeam (Sorbus aria), it looks most like Sorbus 'Wilfrid Fox' to me (hybrid Sorbus aria x Sorbus thibetica)
That's why I said 'Whitebeam', it may not be a mere Sorbus aria. Hard to tell from such a small picture. 'Wilfrid Fox' not known to have been in North American commerce in time to make a tree this size (if it ever has been), but there is at least one largish one in Seattle so it's possible the tree in the photo is also one that was obtained and planted without having been listed by a commercial nursery, esp. if it is on public property. Other bigleaf forms have been sold and planted here.
It would certainly help to know the age of the tree and its location. And also helpful to see what colour the pomes turn in the autumn. My guess would be Sorbus vestita (syn: S. cuspidata) (Himalayan whitebeam), unless it is obviously a grafted specimen. If grafted, it would more likely be Sorbus 'Wifred Fox'. I believe 'Wifred Fox' (S. aria x S. vestita) quite favours the Himalayan in leaf and in habit, but is smaller overall. There is some disagreement in the literature regarding pome colour, probably because of S. vestita's inherent variability (being a sexual species and consequently, having variable offspring) and sunlight effects on the fruit, but I believe those of S. vestita are a yellow-brown and not amber, as in 'Wilfrid Fox'. Interestingly, Aurthur Lee Jacobsen (who I believe usually has it right about such things) states in his magnificent North American Landscape Trees (1996, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA)--this book is tragically out of print--that 'Wifrid Fox' has orange red fruit. There is a beautiful Sorbus vestita directly beside a similar sized European whitebeam (S. aria) near the north end of West Mall on the campus here at UBC. As a student (many years ago), I frequently walked by the pair and wondered why one had red pomes and the other orange. Hmmm... I should go back and look at it to see if it's actually 'Wilfrid Fox'.
Hi Douglas, the location is on Marguerite near 39th on the East side of the street. my guess is about 15 years old or a bit more. Thanks for the input folks!
