European mountain ash

Descrizione

The rowans ( ROW-ənz or ROH-ənz) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus Sorbus of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya, southern Tibet and parts of western China, where numerous apomictic microspecies occur. The name rowan was originally applied to the species Sorbus aucuparia and is also used for other species in the genus Sorbus. Natural hybrids, often including S. aucuparia and the whitebeam, Aria edulis (syn.