Sorbus hupehensis, also known as Hupeh rowan or Hubei rowan, is a species of rowan native to central and western China. It is found between Qinghai and Gansu in the west, Yunnan in the south, Jiangxi in the southeast, and Shandong in the east.
Sorbus hupehensis is a small deciduous tree growing to 5âÂÂ10 m tall, with grey-brown to purplish-brown bark. The branches and shoots are slender. The leaves are green above, paler beneath, 10âÂÂ15 cm long, pinnate with 7-17 narrow oval leaflets 3âÂÂ5 cm long and 1âÂÂ1.8 cm broad, with an acute apex, and serrated margins. They change to orange or red in autumn. The flowers are 5âÂÂ7 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 6âÂÂ10 cm diameter in late spring to early summer. The fruit is a pome 5âÂÂ8 mm diameter, bright pink with persistent sepals, maturing in late autumn.
There are two varieties:
It is grown as an ornamental tree, valued for its white fruit contrasting with the orange autumn colour.
In cultivation, it has often been confused with the related Sorbus oligodonta (white-fruited or kite-leaf rowan) from south-western China. The former differs in being a larger tree (to 15 m) with stouter shoots and larger leaves, is a tetraploid apomictic species which breeds true. The cultivar 'Pink Pagoda', often cited as belonging to S. hupehensis, is actually of S. oligodonta.