Whitebeam ( Sorbus aria )

The leaves of the Whitebeam always make me smile at this stage of the year.   It looks almost as if the tree is covered in little grey/white candles.  Then when you go closer you see they are pubescent (covered in tiny white hairs).  This however is short lived once the leaf is open rain soon destroy the effect.

A native tree, but I can't remember ever having seen one in the wild, perhaps because its native range is mainly Kent, Herts and across to Dorset, an area I don't know well.   The wood is very hard and resilient which meant it was used in the past for cogs such as those in the machinery of flour mills.