Vosges Whitebeam

While I was walking round Peakirk yesterday, I spotted a rather strange looking whitebeam in a planted tree belt, so brought some home to identify. My gut feeling that it wasn't the standard Swedish Whitebeam was correct, and after poring over the key (as whitebeams are quite tricky to identify) I've concluded that it's Sorbus mougeotii, also known as Mougeot's, Vosges or Pyrenean Whitebeam. It's native to the mountains of central and western Europe from the Pyrenees east through the Alps to Austria, and north to the Vosges Mountains. 

This species is widely grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, though usually unrecognised, misidentified as Swedish Whitebeam. It's valued for its tolerance of urban conditions and difficult soil, and is very commonly planted in land reclamation schemes on slag heaps and roadside shrub planting. It's certainly a rather lovely tree, and the fruit are attractive to thrushes and waxwings, which has to be good!