Sorbus aria - Whitebeam

I came across this Whitebeam in Hulme, early spring. This medium sized deciduous tree, or sometimes little more than a shrub, with a spreading or more often domed crown. Its bark is smooth and grey, but sometimes is ridged. It has white flowers in stalked clusters – opening in May. Whitebeam occurs as a native tree only in S Britain, found in hedgerows and woodland edges, mainly on limestone and other calcareous soils – often found on chalk downland slopes.