Sorbus domestica L.
Cornus domestica (L.) Spach
Eng.: Service tree. Spa.: Serbal común. Fre.: Sorbier, cormier. Ara.: Rhibra, zarur. Tam.: Isisnu.
Tree, deciduous, hermaphrodite, up to 15(20) m in height, ramose, irregular in shape. Trunk and thicker and older branches with a characteristic tessellate rhytidome (bark divided into plates, not caducous), greyish-brown. Young branches smooth, grey. New buds and shoots glabrous, very viscous. Leaves [(5)10-20 × (2.5)7-10 cm] alternate, compound, imparipinnate; 5-10 pairs of leaflets 1.5-5.5 × 0.5-2.2 cm, sessile, narrowly oblong, acute, rounded at the base, with a serrated margin in the upper 2/3 of leaflet —and entire at the basal 1/3—, glabrescent on the upper side and villous-lanate on the underside when young, and glabrous, bright green on the upper side and whitish on the underside when adult. Inflorescence terminal, corymbiform, with villous-lanate peduncles, that become glabrous on fruiting. Calyx lanate, whitish, with 5 oval-triangular sepals, 2-5 mm. Corolla glabrous, white, with 5 oval-suborbicular petals, about 6 mm long. Stamens 15-20. Styles 5. Fruit a pome, small, pear-shaped, 2-3 cm long, glabrous, green at first, then yellowish with reddish tints. Seeds 1-3.
Flowering:
March to June.
Fruiting:
September to November.
Habitat:
Forest of tow and medium mountain. In subhumid to hyperhumid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean to supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region. In North Africa it is a rare and localised species. Distributed in Morocco, in the High Atlas (Jebel Tirardin, SE of Amizmiz) and the Middle Atlas (Jebel Amedrous); in Algeria, in the eastern Tellian Atlas (Mts. Tababort and Tamesguida, Tamgout d’Azazga, Keddara Gorges).
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Algeria it is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012).