Greek whitebeam

Photo: abogomazova — CC BY 4.0 · source

Survives zone 6 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

One of the most widely-ranging whitebeams, from central Europe to North Africa. More sharply toothed leaves than the common whitebeam (S. aria) are the easiest field mark. ⚠ Not just astringent: raw fruit in this group contains parasorbic acid, which causes vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea if you eat any quantity of it. Cooking, freezing, drying or a hard frost converts it to harmless sorbic acid — which is exactly why every traditional recipe cooks it and why the fruit is picked after the first frosts.

Hardiness

Zone 6–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Sept–Oct

Mature size

Variable, 1–8 m as shrub or small tree

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

6.0–7.5 (neutral to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Temperate to Mediterranean

Native range

Central and southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa — from Albania to Ukraine, plus Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria and Morocco.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

4–6 yrs

Growth speed

Slow

Spacing

450 cm (177 in) apart — about 20 m² (218 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

More strongly and sharply toothed than the common whitebeam.

Root system

Fibrous and moderately deep, spreading wider than the crown, with a tendency to sucker in some species. Tolerant of poor and thin soils but not of compaction or drought once established.

Fruit description

Rounded to slightly pear-shaped red pome about 1–1.5 cm, ripening in autumn and often persisting on the tree. Mealy and astringent straight off the branch, sweetening after frost or after being bletted, and used across the Balkans and Turkey for jam and fruit leather rather than eaten raw — the usual pattern for the whitebeam group.

Propagation

Seed after cold stratification. Worth knowing which kind you have: the apomictic whitebeams and their relatives set seed asexually and come true, while the sexual rowans do not and their seedlings vary. Named clones are grafted, usually onto S. aucuparia.

Pollination

One of the whitebeam group rather than a true rowan, and like most of that group it is a polyploid that sets much of its seed apomictically — so seedlings tend to come true and a partner is not needed. Sexual reproduction still occurs, which is why the group is taxonomically so tangled.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.