Wild Service tree

Wild service tree is a deciduous tree, which can reach 25 – 30 m in height. The trunk can reach over 1 m in diameter. Bark is smooth and grey colored. It’s stripping away leaving darker layers beneath. Leaves have five to nine lobes, with both sides smooth and shiny. Flowers flourish during May and June. They are monoecious hermaphrodite and insect pollinated.

The fruits are round to oval, greenish colored, 8-10 mm in diameter; they are ripening in September to November, when the color changes to reddish – brown. The tree can live up to 300 years of age. Wild service tree prefers clay and lime based dry soils. The plant is thermophilic, and the fruits contain high content of pectin, vitamin C, flavonoglycosides, and fruit acids. The optimum mean annual temperature is 10 °C – 17 °C (it withstands down to -5°C in April), precipitation 700 mm – 1500 mm, pH range from 3,5 up to 8. Young trees are susceptible to browsing by ungulates. The leaves can be attacked by leaf scab (Venturia inaequalis (Cooke) G. Winter), leaf aphids and gall mites (Eriophyes spp.). Serious threat for older stems is honey fungus (Armillaria spp.)