Sorbaria tomentosa (Lindl.) Rehd. (Himalaya, Afghanistan, C Asia) – An exceptional escape from cultivation. A nice population was discovered in 2000 on old city walls in Ieper (Kasteelgracht) (Verloove 2002 a, b, Verloove 2006) and regularly confirmed subsequently. In this locality Sorbaria tomentosa arrived as a result of sexual reproduction while representatives of this genus mostly reproduce clonally in western Europe.
In this population leaflets are double-serrate and slightly hairy, characteristic features of var. tomentosa (Rahn 1989).
This species seems to be more frost-sensitive than the others (Rahn 1989). It is only rarely reported as an escape, for instance in the British Isles (Clement & Foster 1994), but may have been widely overlooked.
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Selected literature:
Clement E.J. & Foster M.C. (1994) Alien plants of the British Isles. BSBI, London: XVIII + 590 p.
Rahn K. (1989) A survey of the genus Sorbaria (Rosaceae). Nord. J. Bot. 8(6): 557-563.
Verloove F. (2002a) Ingeburgerde plantensoorten in Vlaanderen. Mededeling van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud n° 20: 227 p.
Verloove F. (2002b) Sorbaria tomentosa, ingeburgerd op de vestingen van Ieper. Dumortiera 79: 21-22.
Verloove F. (2006) Sorbaria tomentosa. In: Van Landuyt W., Hoste I., Vanhecke L., Van den Bremt P., Vercruysse W. & De Beer D., Atlas van de flora van Vlaanderen en het Brussels gewest. Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Nationale Plantentuin van België en Flo.Wer: 844.
Vivant J. (1971) Sur trois phanérogames adventices dans le midi de la France. Monde Pl. 369: 8.