rowan - Etymology, and other names

A slender deciduous tree (Sorbus aucuparia), growing to 20 m/65 ft, native to Europe; leaves pinnate with 5–8 pairs of toothed leaflets; flowers creamy, in large clusters; berries red, rarely yellow; also called mountain ash. It is often planted as a street or garden tree, together with several pink- or white-flowered species from Asia. (Family: Rosaceae.)

This article is about the rowan tree. For other uses, see Rowan (disambiguation).

?Rowan
European Rowan fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Rosaceae Subfamily: Maloideae Genus: Sorbus Subgenus: Sorbus
Species
Sorbus subgenus Sorbus Sorbus aucuparia - European Rowan Sorbus americana - American Rowan Sorbus cashmeriana - Kashmir Rowan Sorbus commixta - Japanese Rowan Sorbus decora - Showy Rowan Sorbus glabrescens - White-fruited Rowan Sorbus hupehensis - Hubei Rowan Sorbus matsumurana Sorbus sargentiana - Sargent's Rowan Sorbus scalaris - Ladder Rowan Sorbus sitchensis - Sitka Rowan Sorbus vilmoriniana - Vilmorin's Rowan Plus several other species Sorbus subgenus Aria Sorbus Other subgenera

The rowans are plants of the Family Rosaceae, in the Genus Sorbus, Subgenus Sorbus.

The best known species is European Rowan Sorbus aucuparia, a small tree typically 4-12 m tall growing in a variety of habitats throughout northern Europe and in mountains in southern Europe and southwest Asia.

North American native rowans include the American Rowan Sorbus americana and Showy Rowan Sorbus decora in the east and Sitka Rowan Sorbus sitchensis in the west.

The greatest diversity of form as well as the largest number of species is in Asia, with very distinctive species such as Sargent's Rowan Sorbus sargentiana with large leaves 20-35 cm long and 15-20 cm broad and very large corymbs with 200-500 flowers, and at the other extreme, Small-leaf Rowan Sorbus microphylla with leaves 8-12 cm long and 2.5-3 cm broad.

The density of the rowan wood makes it very usable for walking sticks and magician's staves that additionally carry protective qualities for safe night journeys. The magic power that is ascribed to rowan extends beyond simple protection, for it is said that rowan wood will increase one's psychic powers, and its branches were often used in dowsing rods and magical wands.

Further, rowan was carried on vessels to avoid storms, kept in houses to guard against lightning, and even planted on graves to keep the deceased from haunting. Often birds' droppings contain rowan seeds, and such droppings if they land in a fork or hole where old leaves have accumulated in a larger tree, such as an oak or a maple, may result in a rowan growing as an epiphyte on the larger tree.

Folk-medicinal uses

Fresh rowan berry juice is usable as a laxative, gargle for sore throats, inflamed tonsils, hoarseness, and as a source of vitamins A and C.

Rowan berries as food

Rowan berries can be made into an excellent, slightly bitter, jelly which in England is traditionally eaten as an accompaniment to game, and into jams and other preserves, on their own, or with apples, pears etc.

Rowan cultivars with superior fruit for human food use are available but not common;

Rowan berries contain sorbic acid, an acid that takes its name from the Latin name of the genus Sorbus.

Etymology, and other names

The name "rowan" is derived from the Old Norse name for the tree, raun or rogn. The following are recorded folk names for the rowan: Delight of the eye (Luisliu), Mountain ash, Quickbane, Quickbeam, Quicken (tree), Quickenbeam, Ran tree, Roan tree, Roden-quicken, Roden-quicken-royan, Round wood, Royne tree, Rune tree, Sorb apple, Thor's helper, Whispering tree, Whitty, Wicken-tree, Wiggin, Wiggy, Wiky, Witch wood, Witchbane, Witchen, Witchen tree.

One particularly confusing name for the rowan, still used in both the UK and North America, is "mountain ash", which implies incorrectly that it is a species of ash (Fraxinus).