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Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
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'Normeyera hostii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
The text below is that of Bean (Bean 1981) who discussed this taxon under the name Sorbus × hostii (Jacq.) K. Koch. We have created this hybrid article – Bean’s text under the correct modern name, with appropriate synonymy – whilst we await sponsorship to enable a full revision of this genus to be written. We are re-organising the Sorbus sensu lato articles in this way to enable a new revision of Sorbus sensu stricto to commence in 2023, and to bring the nomenclature of this complex group of plants up to date in line with modern treatments.
TC, August 2023.
A shrub to about 12 ft high, sometimes taller, of compact habit; twigs smooth and glossy, brown, sparsely lenticellate; winter-buds conical, 3⁄8 to 5⁄8 in. long, the scales hairy at the edge, otherwise glabrous. Leaves simple, elliptic, 31⁄2 to 43⁄4 in. long, about 2 in. wide, glossy dark green above, matted with grey hairs beneath, sharply toothed and also mostly shallowly lobed in the upper half, the lobes diminishing in size towards the apex; petiole about 5⁄8 in. long. Flowers borne in May in dense rounded clusters 11⁄2 to 21⁄2 in. wide, held erect on stiff white-hairy stalks. Petals trowel-shaped, 3⁄8 in. long, white on the inside, edged with deep pink, flushed with pink on the outside. Stamen-filaments cream-coloured, anthers pink at first, later cream flushed with pink. Styles two. Fruits ovoid, six to eight in each truss, held erect, slightly over 1⁄2 in. long, lustrous red, with small straw-coloured lenticels.
A hybrid between S. chamaemespilus and S. mougeotii, varying according to whether the second parent is the western, typical subspecies or the more eastern S. mougeotii subsp. austriaca. It was originally described in 1826 from a plant growing in the Vienna Botanic Garden. A form of this hybrid, of unrecorded provenance, was distributed in the 1870s by Messrs Simon-Louis of Metz, but the description given above is adapted from Dr Fox’s account of the plant that once grew in the Winkworth Arboretum. This was 9 ft high when eight years old and about 4 ft in spread; it no longer exists but was undoubtedly authentic, which is more than can be said about some plants distributed as S. × hostii. The true hybrid is one of rare beauty both in flower and fruit, and valuable for the small garden, or where space is limited.