Aria seyboldiana, or Seybold's whitebeam,Blaich, G. (n.d.). Sorbus seyboldiana S.HAMMEL & HAYNOLD. Retrieved August 13, 2026, from https://guenther-blaich.de/pflseite.php?par=Sorbus+seyboldiana&abs=pflfmros&lan=x&grp=a is an apomictic species of tree in the family Rosaceae endemic to Baden-WürttembergAria seyboldiana (S.Hammel & Haynold) Mosyakin, Fedor. & McNeill. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved August 12, 2026, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77371577-1 and Bavaria, Germany. It is extremely rareSorbus seyboldiana S. Hammel & Haynold. (n.d.). Botanischer Informationsknoten Bayern (BIB). Retrieved August 12, 2026, from https://daten.bayernflora.de/de/info_pflanzen.php?taxnr=36265Breunig, T. & S. Demuth (2023): Rote Liste der Farn- und Blütenpflanzen Baden-Württembergs. – 4. Fassung, Stand 15.06.2021. – LUBW Landesanstalt für Umwelt Baden-Württemberg (Hrsg.). – Naturschutz-Praxis Artenschutz 2. and threatened with extinction. It is believed to have arisen by hybridisation of Aria graeca s.l. and Aria torminalis.
Description
Vegetative characteristics Aria seyboldiana is an up to 10(–20) m tall tree with a trunk circumference of up to 64 cm at the height of 150 cm. The initially smooth and later fissured bark is greyish brown. Generative characteristics The (2.8–)4.5–6(–7) cm wide inflorescence bears 20–25(–27) pedicellate, white, 1.6–1.8 cm wide flowers. The androecium is composed of 20 white, 4–6 mm long stamens with cream or faintly green anthers. The ovary with white pubescence bears 2 glabrous, faintly green, basally fused, 3.5 mm long styles with glabrous stigmas. The elliptic to globose fruit bears 1(–2) brown, 5 mm long, 3 mm wide, and 2 mm high seeds. Cytology It is triploidHammel, S., Haynold, B., Gregor, T., & Paule, J. (2015). Ploidie-Bestimmung baden-württembergischer Bastard-Mehlbeeren. Jahreshefte der Gesellschaft für Naturkunde in Württemberg, 171, 069-075.Sennikov, A. N., & Kurtto, A. (2017). A phylogenetic checklist of Sorbus s.l. (Rosaceae) in Europe. Memoranda Societatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, 93, 1-78. with a chromosome count of 2n = 51.Meyer, N., & Hammel, S. (2023). Besondere Arten der Gattung Sorbus: Bemerkungen zu den Eigenheiten der Gattung Sorbus in Baden-Württemberg. Karlsruhe.Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung. (n.d.). Sorbus seyboldiana. Chromosomenzahlen Zur Flora Von Deutschland. Retrieved August 13, 2026, from https://chromosomes.senckenberg.de/search/items?full_text=Sorbus+seyboldiana&taxa-level-0=0&taxa-level-1=0&taxa-level-2=0&taxa-level-3=0&taxon_id=&fields%5B62%5D=0&fields%5B69%5D%5Bmin%5D=47.21353887141794&fields%5B69%5D%5Bmax%5D=54.79556787598423&fields%5B70%5D%5Bmin%5D=7.156210937500001&fields%5B70%5D%5Bmax%5D=13.923789062500001&fields%5B85%5D%5Bmin%5D=&fields%5B85%5D%5Bmax%5D=#searchResults
Taxonomy It was first described as Sorbus seyboldiana & by Steffen Hammel and Bernd Haynold in 2015.Hammel, S., & Haynold, B. (2015). Sorbus seyboldiana – eine neue Mehlbeere aus Baden-Württemberg und Bayern. Jahreshefte der Gesellschaft für Naturkunde in Württemberg, 171, 051-068.Sorbus seyboldiana S.Hammel & Haynold. (n.d.). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved August 12, 2026, from https://www.ipni.org/n/77157414-1 It was moved to the genus Aria as Aria seyboldiana by Sergei Leonidovich Mosyakin, Mykola Mykhaylovych Fedoronchuk, and John McNeill in 2025.Mosyakin, S. L., Fedoronchuk, M. M., & McNEILL, J. (2025). Simplifying the nomenclature of Sorbus sensu lato: new nomenclatural solutions in Aria and Hedlundia (Rosaceae). Ukrainian Botanical Journal, 82(3), 206-224. The type specimen, which is held in the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, was collected on the 19th of June 2014 by Hammel and Haynold southeast of Werbachhausen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on a former sheep pasture at an altitude of 235 m above lea level. It was first documented by Andreas Kneucker in the forest near Werbachhausen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany on the 19th of June 1945. Etymology The specific epithet seyboldiana honours Siegmund Gerhard Seybold.
Distribution and habitat It occurs in grassland, forests, and transitional zones between these habitats at 200–330 m above sea level in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, Germany. The largest part of its population occurs in the Welzbachtal, a side valley of the Taubertal, near Werbachhausen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.Hammel, S., & Simmel, J. (2022). Neues zur Mehlbeeren-Flora von Baden-Württemberg und Bayern aus dem Herbar des Staatlichen Museums für Naturkunde Karlsruhe. Carolinea, 80, 17-24.
Conservation It is a critically endangered species with a restricted distribution and a population of only 17 mature individuals and one juvenile tree. It is of very high importance in terms of nature conservation and is included in the red list of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. It occurs within three nature reserves, but two of the reserves only have one tree each, while the third has the remaining 16 individuals. It is cultivated in the Hohenheim Gardens.Sorbus seyboldiana S. Hammel & Haynold 2015. (n.d.). Hohenheimer Gärten, Universität Hohenheim. Retrieved August 12, 2026, from https://virtuelle-gaerten.uni-hohenheim.de/4DAction/W_Init/HG_Unit_de?UnitPK=HOH-DS-1-16922
Uses Aria seyboldiana may have been used as firewood.
References