True Service Tree is cultivated on the continent as an orchard fruit tree, it is not known as a wild species anywhere on the continent, although it almost certainly once was. It has not traditionally been planted as an orchard tree in Britain, but it is a true native of Britain with several naturally occurring trees along the Welsh-English borders and a single remnant tree growing in Cornwall. In all situations in the wild in Britain this tree is found growing out of river-side cliffs, producing rather stunted and distorted trees struggling for light. We believe the original dispersal vector of its seeds was via wild boar as they seek out the large tasty fruits and disperse the seed in their droppings. As the boar have been absent from Britain for centuries the tree has therefore become very rare.
The Sorbus genus has recently undergone a comprehensive revision. For Sennikov & Kurtto (2017) have published a new checklist of Sorbus s.l. see our full report, which provides an updated classification of this group according to the latest phylogenetic studies. This revision finally recognises the 5 different subgenus within the original Sorbus genera. Of the species occurring in Britain, the only one that remains in the (Sorbus) genus is Rowan: Sorbus aucuparia L., and its hybrid Sorbus × proctoriana T.C.G.Richs.; Sorbus torminalis is now its own separate genus (Torminalis) Wild Service Tree: Torminalis glaberrima (Gand.) Sennikov & Kurtto. (Syn. Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz.); Sorbus domestica is now its own separate genus (Cormus) True Service Tree: Cormus domestica (L.) Spach (Syn. Sorbus domestica L.); Then of the Whitebeams, they’ve quite rightly been split into three separate genera (Aria), (Hedlundia), and (Karpatiosorbus).
At Trebrown Nurseries we maintain our own registered seed stands on Trebrown Farm, which remain the only seed stand registered in Cornwall. Cormus domestica is not a FRM controlled species.
