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GROWING TREES
ROWAN / SORBUS AUCUPARIA
A familiar and graceful tree, often known as Mountain Ash.
Of medium size with ascending branches it produces an ovoid crown.
The white flowers appear in May and develop into pea-sized orange-red berries in the autumn which when eaten by wild birds ensure the tree's widespread dispersal.
The berries, once used by bird catchers to bait their traps, can be made into a delicious jelly rich in vitamin C.
Connected with witchcraft from ancient times the tree was often planted outside houses and churchyards to ward off witches.
A common element of many hedgerows, it responds well to coppicing, producing useful small poles.
The Rowan's strong, flexible, yellow-grey wood was used widely for making tool handles and small carved objects.
Poor firewood.
-NATIVE BRITISH TREES by Andy Thompson
© 2008 chae young kim |
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