It is a medium-sized
deciduous tree growing to tall with a stout trunk usually up to , but sometimes as much as in diameter, and grey
bark; the crown is dome-shaped, with stout horizontal branches. The
leaves are green above, and densely hairy with pale grey-white hairs beneath, long and broad, with four to seven oval lobes on each side of the leaf, broadest near the middle, rounded at the apex, and finely serrated margins. The autumn colour is dull yellowish to grey-brown. The
flowers are diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in
corymbs diameter in late spring. The
fruit is an oval
pome long and in diameter, orange-red to red, maturing in mid autumn. The fruit is dryish, bearing an average of 4.1 seeds per fruit, and eaten by
thrushes and
waxwings, which disperse the
seeds.
Scandosorbus intermedia is a triple hybrid between
Sorbus aucuparia,
Torminalis glaberrima (formerly
Sorbus torminalis), and either
Aria edulis (formerly
Sorbus aria) or one of its close relatives. It is closely related to
Hedlundia hybrida (Finnish whitebeam, formerly
Sorbus hybrida), another species of
hybrid origin, which differs in having the leaves more deeply lobed, with the basal two pairs cut right to the midrib as separate leaflets. Both are tetraploid
apomictic species which breed true without pollination. ==Habitat, cultivation and uses==