Wild service tree (clink) (Sorbus tortinalis)
Appearance: A deciduous tree shedding its leaves for the winter, with a height from 5 do 10 meters, exceptionally reaching height above 20 meters. The crown is usually quite wide with very wide branches, or spherically vaulted, usually, however, quite loose with far apart branches.
The bark is smooth on young specimens, later brown-gray and slightly cracked or divided into small areas. Stems quite strong, brilliantly brownish purple or uniformly brown. Very dense and spherical donuts, shiny, green, sitting, of thickness 5 millimeters.
Single leaves, not split pinnate, about the length 6-10 cm and almost the same width. Broad in outline, oval and, like in the maple, divided into 6-10 wider or narrower triangular flaps, the edges of which are additionally sharply serrated, and all the vertices point to the front. The upper side of the leaf is dark green, still slightly hairy in freshly developed leaves – later naked; the lower side initially has the same silky hair, gradually balding. Long petioles 2-5 cm, yellowish. Leaves quite strong in sunnaya, in autumn they turn bright red.
Flowers taken in strongly vaulted, almost capitate panicles. Individual flowers have 12-15 mm wide and whitish or cream colored, with yellow anthers.
Apple fruit with a thickness of approx 15 mm, almost backstage, speckled with cork warts. jasnobrunatnawe, matte or slightly shiny.
Habitat: The clink grows wild to moderately warm, dry, loose soils in rocky thermophilic thickets or in dry, light oak forests, and also in calcareous beech forests; from lowlands to mid-high mountains, to approx 900 m n.p.m. Occurrence: In Southern Europe, it is widespread in dry thermophilic oak forests with mossy oak. Further to the north it is sometimes used as a tree to line up streets and avenues.
Flowering period: May to June.
General thoughts: The fruit of the clink is less intensely colored than that of its closest relatives. They can be eaten raw, however, due to the presence of parasorbic acid, they should not be consumed in excessive amounts. The clink is one of the few species within the very extensive genus Sorbus, which does not seem to be prone to hybrids. All of the other species shown here have an abundance of partially hereditary hybrids, which in turn gave rise to the geographical races and thus produced a very heterogeneous complex of forms, which only specialists can distinguish.