The Service Tree, also known as Sorbus domestica or sorb tree, is a deciduous tree native to western, central, and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It is a long-lived tree, with ages of 300-400 years estimated for some in Britain.

Physical Characteristics

The Service Tree grows to 15-20 meters (49-66 feet) tall with a trunk up to 1 meter (3 feet 3 inches) diameter. It can also be a shrub 2-3 meters (6.6-9.8 feet) tall on exposed sites. The tree has a broad, rounded crown and a straight, smooth trunk.

Cultivation The Service Tree is often cultivated for its wood, which is used for manufacturing wooden planes of all types used for working wood. The wood is fairly dense and holds a profile well. The tree is also used as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens.

Fruit and Edible Uses

The fruit of the Service Tree is edible, but not commercially important. In Ancient Greece, the fruit was cut in half and pickled, which Plato in the Symposium (190d7-8) has Aristophanes use as a metaphor for the cutting in half of the original spherical humans by Zeus.