Grafted whitebeam?

[Gary Prentice]

I pass a small suppressed whitebeam regularly which always catches my eye as a bit odd. After doing a survey at the property I now know why. The stem and most of the crown is whitebeam, its decaying and declining now but through the canopy are mountain ash leaves stems and branches. 

 

These originate as suckers and basal stems from ground level, leading to a conclusion that the tree is grafted and the Rowan parts are from the rootstock. But, I've never been aware that whitebeams are/can be grafted trees. (Don't know that much about grafting). The whitebeam hasn't flowers or berries, but doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary. Have I been unobservant for the last three decades? 

[daltontrees]

https://www.pippintrees.co.uk/trees/whitebeam

see the last line of this link.

Also soem of the rare WHitebeams on UK (the welsh, arran, bristol etc.) are being kept ging by grafting onto Rowan. The Leys Whitebeam is apparently down to a dozen or so but the genetic material is also beign preserved by grafting onto  aucuparia rootstock and grown in a botanics.

 

The suckering leaves of Whitebeam I have seen in Edinburgh, and they looked like Swedish Whitebeam leaves, or even more dissected, like Bastard Service. Only much bigger. It's in their blood.

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

commonly grafted on Crategus too..

[daltontrees]

28 minutes ago, AA Teccie (Paul) said:

commonly grafted on Crategus too..

Ddin't know that. They're both family Rosaceae, so it seems logical.

 

[Gary Prentice]

10 hours ago, AA Teccie (Paul) said:

commonly grafted on Crategus too..

That info rings a bell. I’ll have to nip back to try to various the WB I.d. 

Maybe it,s an unusual variety and I overlooked it.

[Gary Prentice]

12 hours ago, daltontrees said:

https://www.pippintrees.co.uk/trees/whitebeam

see the last line of this link.

Also soem of the rare WHitebeams on UK (the welsh, arran, bristol etc.) are being kept ging by grafting onto Rowan. The Leys Whitebeam is apparently down to a dozen or so but the genetic material is also beign preserved by grafting onto  aucuparia rootstock and grown in a botanics.

 

The suckering leaves of Whitebeam I have seen in Edinburgh, and they looked like Swedish Whitebeam leaves, or even more dissected, like Bastard Service. Only much bigger. It's in their blood.

It’s odd that grafting appears common, or at least not uncommon, yet this is the first root sucker I can remember ever seeing.

 

Bit more reading methinks.