Edible tree - novice Season - present all year. Flowers: late spring. Fruits: autumn to winter Common names Rowan, mountain ash, witch wiggin tree, keirn, cuirn, quickbeam, rowanberry
Scientific name meaning: Sorbus comes from the Latin Sorbeo meaning absorbing. Aucuparia is also of Latin origin from Aucupor meaning "to catch/chase birds. This is a reference to the berries being used to bait birds
Habitat  A UK native, Rowan can be found in woodland, particularly along edges and rides, and growing at high altitudes. It is easy to grow, with attractive fruit, so is often found in gardens and parks. |
Overall structure  Rowan is a slender tree reaching 15 m tall. Its canopy branches out from roughly 1/3 of the trees height. |
Leaves  The pinnately compound leaves consist of five to eight pairs of lance-shaped leaflets that have a serrated edge. The terminal leaflet is similarly-shaped to the leaflet pairs. |
Trunk  The back is a silver-brown to silver-grey and is quite shiny in younger specimens. It has horizontal markings. |
Flowers  The flowers form in springtime and are arranged on corymbs that appear to be densely packed. The individual flowers are creamy white, have five petals and the external reproductive parts are exposed. The flowers emit an unpleasant fishy aroma. |
Fruit  The spherical fruits turn deep orange-red when ripe and reach around 1cm in diameter. The combined weight of them is so heavy that branches can bend or even snap under their weight. The remains of the external reproductive parts are visible at the bottom of each fruit. |
Possible lookalikes  Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) could be confused with rowan but its leaflets are not particularly serrated and it does not produce berries. Elder (Sambucus nigra) may also be confused with rowan but it usually has lots of canes rather than one solid trunk, it has less leaflets on its leaves (maximum three pairs) and its berries are purple-black rather than orange-red. |
Use as a food The flowers can be used to flavour jams, jellies, syrups and cordials, or to infuse cream/milk when they are young and have a marzipan-like aroma. The berries must be cooked (see hazards) and can be used to make a sweet-sour jams, wine, cordial, jelly or fruit cheese. The berries are high in vitamin C Use in herbal medicine and medicine Has been used as an astringent, laxative, and diuretic, and to treat scurvy, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, vaginal discharge
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner.
Hazards The berries contain parascorbic acid and eating them raw will cause vomiting and stomach upset. Therefore, they must be cooked.
In addition, the seeds are believed to contain cyanogenic glycosides and hydrogen cyanide so should not be eaten
Other uses An anti-ageing skin mask has been made from the berries, while the branches produce a black dye. The wood is prized by woodturners. Importance to other species Rowan's leaves are eaten by the larvae of many moths and butterflies, including the larger Welsh wave and autumn green carpet, while apple fruit moth caterpillars feed on the berries. The berries are also an important food source for birds, including blackbird, mistle thrush, redwing, redstart, fieldfare, waxwing and song thrush.
In addition, the flowers are important for pollinators
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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