Hi everyone, I encountered this little fella in the understory of three separate forests plots during fieldwork in Québec. All were Abies balsamea-Betula alleghaniensis dominated plots and all were observed August 2024. Locations were along Chemin Chimo and in la Vérendrye wildlife reserve (along the 38). Stupidly I only took one picture so this is the only one to go by... The ruler is in cm. Identification apps suggest Sorbus aucuparia or Sorbus americana. This could be the case , however all of them were very small and there seemed to be no adult Sorbus close. A colleague suggested it might be Actaea rubra but I'm not fully convinced due to how narrow the leaflets are. Does anyone have another suggestion or can shed a light on this? Thank you!
Welcome to the forums. lukasvr I cannot id your plant but can eliminate Actaea rubra from the equation. Leaf shape is wrong.
Seedlings of Sorbus do look quite different from adult plants in foliage, and something like Sorbus aucuparia is readily transported by birds. Here is a young seedling photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sorbus_aucuparia_kz01.jpg Having seen seedlings of Sorbus of various kinds here at UBCBG, that is the direction I would strongly lean for your mystery plant.
Great to know. I'm also leaning mostly towards Sorbus aucuparia at the moment so that's likely what I will go with. Thank you for your help!
Agree with European Rowan, a very typical seedling. S. americana has slenderer and less deeply toothed leaflets.
