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ASIA-TEMPERATE
Soviet Far
East:
Russian
Federation -
Amur,
Khabarovsk,
Primorye
Mongolia:
Mongolia
China:
China -
Gansu, Hebei,
Heilongjiang,
Jilin, Liaoning,
Nei Monggol,
Shaanxi,
Shandong, Shanxi
Eastern
Asia:
Korea
(2)
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Amur mountain-ash is a deciduous
tree growing to 25 feet.
(3)
| Trees to 8 m
tall. Branchlets brown or purplish brown
to grayish brown, tomentose-villous when
young, gradually glabrescent, with small
grayish white lenticels; buds
oblong-ovoid, 0.8–1.2 cm × 5–7 mm, apex
acuminate; scales several, reddish
brown, densely gray tomentose-villous.
Leaves imparipinnate, together with
rachis 10–20 cm; petiole 2.5–5 cm;
stipules broadly ovate or semiorbicular,
5–10 × 5–12 mm, margin coarsely sharply
serrate; rachis slightly winged,
sulcate, tomentose-villous, subglabrous
when old; leaflets 5–7-paired, at
intervals of 1–2.5 cm, terminal and
basal ones usually smaller than others,
blade ovate-lanceolate or
elliptic-lanceolate, 3–5 × 1.4–1.8 cm,
lateral veins 9–16 pairs, slightly
arcuate-anastomosing at margin,
abaxially pale, tomentose-villous when
young, subglabrous or tomentose-villous
only along midvein when old, adaxially
sparsely tomentose-villous or glabrous,
base obliquely rounded, margin minutely
sharply serrate, nearly entire basally,
apex acute or shortly acuminate.
Inflorescences terminal, 8–12 × 10–15
cm, densely flowered; rachis and
pedicels tomentose-villous, subglabrous
or glabrous when old; bracts ovate,
smaller than stipules, sharply serrate,
rarely entire. Pedicel 3–4 mm. Flowers
5–8 mm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate,
abaxially tomentose-villous or
subglabrous. Sepals triangular, 1.5–2.5
× 1–2 mm, glabrous or subglabrous, apex
acute. Petals white, broadly ovate or
suborbicular, 3.5–5 × 3–4 mm, adaxially
puberulous, apex obtuse. Stamens 20,
nearly as long as petals. Styles 3(or
4), not exceeding stamens, pubescent
basally. Fruit red or orangish red, 6–8
mm in diam., glabrous when mature;
sepals persistent. Fl. Jun, fr. Sep–Oct.
(3) |
The showy white
flowers appear in early summer, and the abundant orange
fruit appear in summer, persisting through winter. Fruit
provides palatable browse for many animals and birds,
but is not suitable for human consumption, except,
perhaps for various folk remedies; the plant is not
toxic.
(5)
The mountain ash and related
species (most often the European Mountian ash,
Sorbus aucuparia) are sometimes referred to in
folklore as "Rowan" trees, but this use has almost
disappeared from the modern lexicon. The rowans
were thought by the Celts and other primitive
peoples of The British Isles to have magical
properties.
"Mountain ash,
1804, from
rowan-tree, rountree (1548),
northern English and Scottish, from
a Scandinavian source (cf. O.N.
reynir,
Swed. Ronn
"the rowan"), ultimately from the
root of red,
in reference to the berries. The
rowan "was the tree most often
credited with protective magical
powers against all effects of
witchcraft, not merely in Celtic
areas but throughout Britain." --
Oxford Dictionary of English
Folklore
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