Lancastrian Whitebeam

This isn't going to win any prizes in a photography competition, but it is interesting - or at least I think so.

This is the Lancastrian Whitebeam (Sorbus lancastriensis), a small tree that is found only on the limestones around Morecambe Bay, and nowhere else in the world. There are perhaps a few thousand specimens of this in total. You can see from the picture that as with so many other fruiting trees and shrubs in this area, it is a good year for fruiting. All of the trees here are weighed down with umbels of hips that have turned upside down under the weight.

The whitebeams are what botanists call apomicts. That is they produce fruits without the aid of sexual reproduction, the seeds are genetic replicas of the parents. Dandelions have a similar strategy. This gives plant taxonomists a gift for splitting into distinct species the many variants that arise over time through small scale genetic change. There are a number of species recognised in Britain and most of them occur in isolated areas, many on limestones.

The Lancastrian whitebeam is similar to the more widespread common whitebeam (Sorbus aria) that also occurs in our area, but differs in a number of leaf and other characters.


I took this as the light was failing fast. It makes a change from estuary blips, and I did say some time ago that I would try and get a photo to show anyone who is interested. If I was clever with Photoshop I could have tidied up the out of focus umbels, but hopefully this gives an idea of the plant.

Update on the bees. I have been trying to find a new home for the swarm today, and had a visit from one of the local beekeepers. Alas, he thinks the swarm is too small to have any chance of making it through the winter even in a secure hive. The bees themselves are likely to get very angry if we try and move them now, and so it looks like there is nothing we can do I'm afraid. I have a colleague who is also interested, so he and his wife may come for a look to see if they can give them a chance.

I won't have time for much commenting tonight, I have been working most of the day and evening. This week will be a very demanding one, so I may miss a few blips through the week.