Could anyone name this shrub?

Hello,

I have a shrub but I have no idea what it is. It's deciduous, a fast grower, up to 3 metres tall (10 feet), if left unpruned over the years the straight multiples stems become as thick a branches. The leaves could possibly look a bit like an Elder, Wisteria or a Fern, but it's not. It does not produce any flowers, is very hardy and in full sun. Any ideas?

Thank you.

 

Hi Prunus,

To me it looks like a Sorbus ( Mountain Ash ). The fact that it doesn't produce flowers/berries could be due to pruning too much or at the wrong time of the year.

 

Sorbaria sorbifolia ?

 

Hello Anthony,

Thank you for your reply. I don't think it is a Sorbus (Mountain Ash) because the leaves on my shrub are pointed at the end. A few years ago I coppiced it and lots of stems sprung and grew very fast. I did not prune it for several years after that and those multiple stems became as thick as branches of a small tree. But even though I left it unpruned for several years it never produced any flowers or berries. Both pictures were taken last year after I had it coppiced again and new shoots emerged at a fast rate.

 

It has many characteristics of the Sorbaria sorbifolia but I've read that plant only seems to grows up to 1.5 metres, while mine to a good 3 metres with no flowers. This is what the leaves of my shrub in question look like:

 

I agree with a Sorbus. I grew one and it took 5+ years to flower and was about 3m tall at that point. I've a couple of others about 2m tall that may flower this spring.

 

Hi NigelJ, but don't the leaves look slightly different? The shrub was already established when I moved in, back in 1995 and as far as I remember it never flowered - unless I never noticed :-) . It never had any reddish tinge on it's leaves either. Once coppiced the multiple trunk reached almost 1 square meter; lots of stems grew out of it over the years, these grew to about 4 inches in diameter to a high of possibly 3.5 metres but no more. It produces suckers (therefore the large trunk) but these don't go very far.

 

Sorbaria sorbifolia...Does it have very attractive tri colour leaves in the Spring