On September 28, Mary Alice and I went on the PGC’S tour of SGL 12. While on the tour we noticed several trees that were loaded with red berries. Upon checking we learned that the trees were known as mountain ash.

Quite a few years ago the women of the Heritage Garden Club of Troy were selling mountain ash berries at the Heritage Days held at Alparon Park. I asked one of them what the berries would be used for, and her answer was “holiday decorations.”

There is some confusion as to the correct name for this tree. In the United Kingdom, this tree is known as a rowan tree; in some parts of Canada, the tree is often referred to as the dogberry tree, and in North America, it is most frequently known as the mountain ash.

The name of mountain ash comes from the similarity of the leaves to the ash tree and combined with the fact that mountain ash trees frequently grow high in the mountains. However the mountain ash is not an ash tree at all.

The American mountain ash tree is also known as the rowan tree with the name rowan derived from raun, which is the Old Norse name for the tree. Linguists believe that the Norse name is ultimately derived from the Germanic word raudnian, meaning “getting red,” which referred to the red foliage and red berries in the autumn. In Tennessee, the tree is call peruveIts, which is probably in reference to the Peruvian bark (the bark of the quinine tree).

Our pioneer ancestors used whatever bitter or aromatic bark found as a substitute for quinine to treat malaria. Today, this small lovely tree serves no purpose but to add beauty to the forest, especially in the fall when the berries (actually pomes) turn a shiny red, and last through most of the winter months.

The berries are acidic, with an unpleasant taste; however, they are eaten by many species of birds.

In England, the rowan berries were supposedly most effective against witches. It was thought that since witches disliked the color red, bouquets of scarlet rowan berries were almost certain to send them flying on their broomsticks in disgust.

An ancient song goes like this:

“Their spells were vain; the hags returned

To the queen in sorrowful mood,

Crying that witches have no power

Where there is a rowan-tree wood.”

The rowan tree was often called the wiggen tree because it was greatly revered by the Druids. It was also formally known as the Witchen tree.

During the 17th century, John Evelyn described in his diary that the tree is so sacred that there is not a churchyard without a rowan tree. Belief was that a rowan tree planted in a graveyard would keep the dead firmly in their graves until Judgment Day.

Our mountain ash tree’s scientific name is Sorbus Americana. Mountain ash fruit contains sorbic acid that takes its name from the Latin name of the genus Sorbus. The raw fruit also contains parasorbic acid, which causes indigestion and can lead to kidney damage.

Mountain ash trees are deciduous, meaning that the trees shed their leaves in the winter. The dark green leaves first appear in April, followed by masses of small white flowers in mid to late May. The leaves have a very sweet scent, which attracts many pollinating insects.

The pollinated flowers turn into berries containing seeds. Mountain ash trees begin producing seeds when they are approximately 15 years old. By late August, the berries will have ripened, with each berry containing up to eight seeds. Birds eat the vitamin C-rich berries and spread them far and wide in their droppings.

It’s interesting to note that the berries of mountain ash trees have a laxative effect; thus, encouraging the birds to drop the seeds before their digestive system can cause much damage to the seeds.

The seeds of mountain ash trees are tough and require stratification (a period of cold) to break down the coating. Although there will be seeds germinate during the next spring, in some cases, the seeds will take two or even three years to germinate. Depending on soil and weather conditions, mountain ash trees will have an expected lifespan of 80 years and possibly over 100 years if conditions are correct.

The berries on the branches that the ladies, of the garden club, were selling were small and red. At one time, we had two trees growing on Elmira Street, in Troy. One tree’s berries were larger and more of an orange color than the tree across the street that was bearing red fruit.

American mountain ash is a small tree common throughout the New England states. Its berries are generally orange-red to bright red. The leaflets are serrated and finely toothed, from the tip to the petiole. In contrast, the European mountain ash has toothed leaflets only two-thirds of the way down the length of the leaflet, with the lower third of the leaf un-toothed, and the berries are generally orange in color.

The mountain ash made a beautiful addition to the fall scenery on the tour and, of course, gave me a subject to write about.

Bill Bower is a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Officer. Read his blog and listen to his podcasts on the outdoors at www.onemaningreen.com.