World's rarest at Spier's
6 September
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Arran Whitebeam leaves
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The bark of the Arran Whitebeam
The Friends of Spiers and the NAC Garnock Valley Ranger have discovered one of the World's rarest trees growing at the Spier's parklands. It was uncovered when invasive Rhododendrons were being cleared on a recent FoS practical conservation workday.
The Arran Whitebeam (Sorbus pseudofennica) is one of three Whitebeam species unique to the Isle of Arran, where only 236 mature S. pseudofennica trees were recorded in 1980. The tree is a true species, derived from repeated interbreeding between Whitebeam and the Mountain Ash trees; it is very hardy and grows at a higher altitude than almost any other tree in Scotland.
The tree is notoriously hard to grow from seed and its originally prominent site suggests that it may have been grown from a seedling brought back by the old school's Biology Department after an expedition to Arran in the days before the various Wildlife Protection Laws came into force.
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