Tree of the month: August 2023 - Rowan/Mountain Ash

The Rowan Tree is a quick-growing, widespread tree of the Sorbus family, that can survive in many different conditions including wasteland, scree, and on cliffs. Its common name - Mountain Ash - derives from its ability to grow up to 1,000 metres above sea level, even surviving in crevices and cracks in rocks.

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The Rowan can live up to 200 years and grow to a height of 15 metres, though on scree and rock-faces it may be much smaller.

Many species other than the native Rowan can be seen in parks, estates, gardens and planted along roadsides.

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​In spring the Rowan has masses of creamywhite flowers, very valuable food sources for pollinators, while the orange-red berries, ripening in autumn, are rich in vitamins, providing important food-sources for many species of birds and animals. Its distinctive, serrated leaves grow in five to eight pairs along a slender stem, and are a food source for several moth caterpillars.

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Wildlife value of the Rowan:
The mass of sweet-scented, creamy flowers in spring provide food for many insects. Bees, flies and especially beetle species feed on the flowers, including Longhorn, Click, Sap and Scarab Beetles. Not having pollen sacs these insects inadvertently gather the pollen on their bodies. Moving from flower to flower and tree to tree they then pollinate them as they feed.

The caterpillars of several species of moths feed on the leaves, including the Welsh Wave Moth and the Green Carpet Moth.

When the mass of berries ripen in autumn a range of birds, especially those of the Thrush family (which includes Blackbirds and our overwintering visitors - Redwing and Fieldfare), gorge on the berries. The indigestible seeds inside are then deposited much further afield, helping to spread the Rowan widely.

A range of animals feed on the young shoots and seedlings of Rowan, including deer, hares, voles and slugs. The fact that it is a fast growing tree helps many seedlings survive grazing.

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Human uses of Rowan: The wood is hard and has an elastic quality which made it useful for baskets, crates, cartwheels, divining rods, spinning wheels and spindles. It is also popular for walking sticks and was used as a threshing tool in the Scottish Highlands, where it was especially valued for threshing grain for rituals, due to its folklore associations (see below). It is good for carving and its durability meant it was often used for tool handles. The berries are still used for a strong alcoholic drink in the Highlands, while the Irish used them to flavour mead and the Welsh used them in ale. A black dye can be made from berries and bark.

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Rowan Jelly:
Gather 1.5 kg of Rowan Berries (best after frost or when fully ripe)
1.5kg of crab apple or Bramley apple cores
450 g of white sugar for every 600ml of strained liquid.
Juice of 1 lemon.
Roughly chop apples and put in large pan with rowan berries. Just cover with water.
Bring to boil and simmer until soft (around 20 minutes).
Lay muslin or soft cloth over a large bowl and tip the contents of the pan into the cloth. Tie the cloth ends and hang it over the now empty pan for at least four hours, or overnight, so it slowly drips in. (To do this secure the cloth on string from a, chair or piece of wood etc so the tied cloth hangs free over the pan).
For every 600 ml of strained liquid, add 450g of sugar and the juice of the lemon. Boil rapidly for around 10 minutes or until setting point is reached. Put in sterilised jars. Seal.
The berries can also be used for pies, vinegar and ketchup. The flowers can be infused in drinks and the sap is edible.

Herbal uses include:
Treating stomach disorders and bleeding, and to treat asthma. The leaves have been used to treat sore eyes.

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The Rowan in mythology and folklore:
In Norse mythology the first woman was fashioned from Rowan, the first man from Ash. The life of the god Thor is said to have been saved by a Rowan. When he was swept away in the Underworld by a fast-flowing river, he was able to grab a Rowan tree that was growing bent over the river and so save himself. Rowans that grow out of crevices in rocks were known as ‘flying Rowan’ and thought to be especially magical and the Rowan was the tree on which runes were inscribed for the purposes of divination.

It has a long association with witches and magic. Each berry has a five-pointed star at its tip (the sepal remnants) and pentagons were a protective symbol. The red of the berries also led to its association with protection from evil spirits. The white blossom meant it was seen as the ‘faerie tree’.

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Rowan myths:
Old rhyme: “Rowan tree and red thread
Make the witches tine (lose) their speed”.
In some Celtic cultures it was taboo to use a knife on a Rowan. On the Isle of Man crosses made from Rowan twigs, made without using a knife, were fastened to cattle for protection from evil spirits and on Mayday Eve, hung on door lintels for protection. It was taboo in Scotland to cut down a Rowan and sprigs were worn as protection from enchantments. Milk was stirred with Rowan twigs to prevent it curdling.

Some Scottish place names derive from the Gaelic name for Rowan- Caorunn, as in Beinn Chaorunn. The clan badge of the Malcom’s and McLachan’s includes a Rowan.

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Thrushes in the Rowan Tree by Maureen Boyle
The very day the rowan berries ripen, thrushes fly in, stately and speckled, as if summoned there… Acrobats in motley, they swing making lithe lines of branches, stretching - somersaulting out to reach the berries - each red drop held in the beak before it falls to add to the marbled bags of their bellies.

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Carolina Oliphant: Scottish song-writer, 1766-1845
Oh Rowan tree, oh Rowan tree thou’ll aye be dear to me
Intwin’d thou art wi’ many ties o’ hame and infancy
Thy leaves were aye the first o’ spring,
Thy flow’rs the simmer’s pride;
There was nae sic a bonny tree, in a’ the countryside.

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Of the many cultivated species of Rowan those with orange and yellow berries keep their berries longer so are good as a later food for birds and animals. Some, like Joseph Rock, also have leaves with rich autumn colours.