By Adam Bigelow reporting for Native Plant News Fall 2025 and adapted from Smoky Mountain News
At the higher elevations in the Southern Appalachian Mountains grows a special and sacred tree whose red berries glow in the full sun against a clear blue-sky. Steeped in folklore and traditions brought by European settlers and colonizers, the sight of the Rowan tree (Sorbus americanus) must have filled the hearts of Scotch and Irish descendants with nostalgia for home.
Most prefer to use the more common of its common names, Mountain-Ash, to describe this small tree. It was given this name due to the similarities of its leaves to those of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) which have oppositely arranged, compound leaves. Ash trees have a lot of other differences from Rowans, as they are in different plant families.
Ash trees are in the Olive family (Oleaceae) whereas Rowans are in the Rose Family (Rosaceae). Ash fruits are winged samaras, while Rowan fruits are a type of berry called a drupe. While they both have compound leaves, Ash trees leaves have opposite arrangement, and the compound leaves of the Rowan are alternately arranged. This, plus the celebration of my own Irish and Celtic roots lead me to use Rowan as my preferred name for Sorbus americanus.
A leaf is described as compound when it is divided into multiple leaflets that separate from the main, middle vein of the leaf. This is in contrast to simple leaves that have no separations and grow as a single leaf from the stem. Compound leaves can have different forms, and the leaflets can have their own stalk, or petiole, or they can be stalkless or sessile in their attachment. A palmately compound leaf, like Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava) have leaflets that radiate from a central point and resemble the palm of your hand. Hence, the term palmate.
The Rowan tree’s leaves are pinnately compound, which is where the leaflets are arranged along the middle vein — or midrib — in alternate or more commonly in opposite arrangement. Pinnately compound leaves often have a terminal leaflet at the point, or end of the leaf as is the case with the Rowan tree.
It is the flowers, and especially the vivid fruits, that make this a very showy and beautiful tree. The flowers are white, urn shaped, and are displayed in a form called a corymb. A corymb is where the flower stalk, or pedicel, of the outermost flowers are longer than those in the middle, giving the flower cluster a flat and open shape which resembles a candelabra. Rowan trees flower in June and July.
The large clusters of multiple, small white flowers attract a large variety of generalist pollinating insects. They are primarily visited by native bees, moths, and butterflies. Rowan flowers will also attract other insects that gather pollen and nectar, such as ants and flies.
Once pollinated, the fruits begin to ripen and take on a strong red to orange hue, with many berries in the corymb cluster. These fruits are stunning and will remain on the tree well into winter. They look incredible not only against a blue-sky backdrop but also standing out as a complement to the yellow fall color that the leaves take on once their photosynthetic work is done for the year.
The fruits of the Rowan tree provide good nutrition to birds and other animals through early winter. Fruits ripen in September and October and can persist on the tree even after the leaves drop for the year. While edible to humans, they do not taste very good. However, they are loaded with natural fruit pectin and can be combined with other tasty fruits to make a good jelly or jam, helping the jelly to set without the need for additional pectin.
In European folklore, the Rowan tree is associated with protection and is considered a magical tree that can help ward off evil spirits or people. The European Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) has many common names that reflect its magical nature, including Quicken Tree, Quickbeam, Witchwand, Tree of Life, Lady of the Mountains, and Tree of the Wizard.
I encourage you to get yourself up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway or into the Smokies to see the magical display of this most special tree. Some years are better than others for fruiting, and it’s hard to predict. The Rowan tree is ready to fill you with awe and inspire or deepen your connection with the sacred. I especially enjoy seeing the rowan in fruit in Roan Highlands. What could be better than seeing a Rowan on the Roan?
Adapted with permission from “The Joyful Botanist” by Adam Bigelow, in Smoky Mountain News.
Adam Bigelow is a horticulturist and botanist who has been studying plants and wildflowers of Southern Appalachia for over 20 years. He is the owner of Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions, an ecotour business leading interpretive plant walks in western North Carolina. Adam is a member of the planning committee for the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, the largest and oldest Native Plant conference in the country. He lives in Cullowhee at 3,600 ft surrounded by native plants and wildflowers with his two cats, Hazel Alder and Silky Willow.