This tree starts the year by sprouting fresh green leaves. After flowering in June, its leaves turn bright red during the fall. It then ends the year covered with bright red berries.
In this way, the Sorbus commixta is a tree that provides viewing enjoyment throughout the year.
Even when the fall foliage season ends, the trees remain covered with many berries. However, this year the berries have grown so thickly that visitors come to us to ask about them.
There are various factors thought to be behind this year’s remarkable growth. One is the good weather the area enjoyed during the blossoming season in June and July. And another is that much of the pollen did not fall due to the low rainfall, which resulted in a higher pollination rate.
Good weather continued in the gorge through June and July of this year, and the amount of rainfall was abnormally small (based on statistical data of the Japan Meteorological Agency).
Additionally, Sorbus commixta berries do not go bad even after they have matured, which means that they stay on the branch even when the snow falls. This characteristic is thought to be caused by sorbic acid that is contained in the unripe berries.
Regardless of how they come to be there, the birds love to feast on them. Great numbers of Bombycilla garrulus, Turdus eunomus, and other birds gather on the trees and leave them completely clean of berries.
Photo: A Sorbus commixta laden with berries Nov. 9
In this way, the Sorbus commixta is a tree that provides viewing enjoyment throughout the year.
Even when the fall foliage season ends, the trees remain covered with many berries. However, this year the berries have grown so thickly that visitors come to us to ask about them.
There are various factors thought to be behind this year’s remarkable growth. One is the good weather the area enjoyed during the blossoming season in June and July. And another is that much of the pollen did not fall due to the low rainfall, which resulted in a higher pollination rate.
Good weather continued in the gorge through June and July of this year, and the amount of rainfall was abnormally small (based on statistical data of the Japan Meteorological Agency).
Additionally, Sorbus commixta berries do not go bad even after they have matured, which means that they stay on the branch even when the snow falls. This characteristic is thought to be caused by sorbic acid that is contained in the unripe berries.
Regardless of how they come to be there, the birds love to feast on them. Great numbers of Bombycilla garrulus, Turdus eunomus, and other birds gather on the trees and leave them completely clean of berries.
Photo: A Sorbus commixta laden with berries Nov. 9
