Sorbus scalaris Koehne

Shrubs or small trees, 3–7 m tall. Branchlets blackish gray when old, terete, gray or brown pubescent when young, subglabrous when old; buds ovoid, 7–9 × 4–7 mm, apex obtuse; scales several, brownish, with grayish white hairs. Leaves imparipinnate, together with rachis 10–18 cm; petiole 1–2.5 cm; stipules persistent, suborbicular or ovate, 0.7–1.4 cm in diam., margin coarsely serrate; rachis purplish, abaxially white tomentose, adaxially sulcate; leaflet blades (8–)10–14 pairs, terminal and basal ones smaller, at intervals of 8–10 mm, oblong or nearly broadly linear, 2–3(–4) × 0.6–1.4 cm, abaxially gray tomentose and papillose, adaxially glabrous, base rounded or obliquely so, margin minutely sharply serrate near apex, with 2–8 teeth per side, apex obtuse or acute. Inflorescences terminal, 6–10 × 7–12 cm, many flowered; rachis and pedicels gray or grayish white tomentose, glabrescent, subglabrous in fruit, with prominent lenticels. Flowers 6–8 mm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, glabrous or slightly tomentose near base. Sepals triangular, 1–2 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Petals white, ovate or suborbicular, 2.5–3.5 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Stamens ca. 20, nearly as long as petals. Styles 3 or 4, not exceeding stamens, densely pubescent basally. Fruit red, ovoid-globose, 5–6 mm in diam.; sepals persistent. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Aug–Sep. 2n = 34*.

W Sichuan, Yunnan.

Mixed forests on mountain slopes; 1600--3000 m.

Pyrus scalaris (Koehne) Bean; Sorbus foliolosa (Wallich) Spach var. pluripinnata C. K. Schneider; S. pluripinnata (C. K. Schneider) Koehne.

Sorbus scalaris is a species of rowan. It is native to western Sichuan and Yunnan in China where it grows in mixed forests on mountain slopes at altitudes of 1600–3000 m. S. scalaris is a shrub or small tree, 3–7 m tall.

Sorbus scalaris is sometimes cultivated. It said to be the most attractive small tree among the orange-fruited Rowan species. Because it is self-incompatible and very few clones are cultivated, most seedlings raised from this species by gardeners are hybrids.