View source for Rowan

{{short description|Common name of a subgenus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae}}
{{Redirect-multi|2|Mountain-ash|Quicken Tree|the Australian mountain ash|Eucalyptus regnans|the racehorse|Quicken Tree (horse)|other uses|Rowan (disambiguation)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Rowanberries in late August 2004 in Helsinki.jpg
| image_alt = Cluster of small red fruits on a branch with foliage
| image_caption = European rowan fruit
| taxon = Sorbus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision = * [[List of Sorbus species]]
| synonyms =
* ''Aucuparia'' <small>Rivinus ex Medik.</small>
* × ''Sorbotoraria'' <small>Mezhenskyj</small>
}}
The '''rowans''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|aʊ|ə|n|z}} {{respell|ROW|ənz}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|oʊ|ə|n|z}} {{respell|ROH|ənz}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/rowan |title=rowan noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes &#124; Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at |publisher=Oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com |access-date=2020-08-26}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Rushforth-1999">Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins {{ISBN|0-00-220013-9}}.</ref> The name ''rowan'' was originally applied to the species ''[[Sorbus aucuparia]]'' and is also used for other species in the genus ''Sorbus''.<ref>McAllister, H.A. 2005. ''The genus Sorbus: Mountain Ash and other Rowans ''. Kew Publishing.</ref>
Natural hybrids, often including ''S.&nbsp;aucuparia'' and the whitebeam, ''[[Aria edulis]]'' (syn. ''[[Sorbus aria]]''),<ref>{{cite web |title=Sorbus aria (L.) Crantz {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:741629-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> give rise to many [[endemic]] variants in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/Botanic/Plant.aspx?p=27&ix=65&pid |title=Cambridge Botanic Garden: the Genus Sorbus |publisher=Botanic.cam.ac.uk |access-date=2018-07-12}}</ref>
==Names==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
The Latin name ''sorbus'' was borrowed into [[Old English]] as ''syrfe''. The Latin name ''sorbus'' is from a root for "red, reddish-brown" ([[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] ''*sor-/*ser-''); English ''sorb'' is attested from the 1520s in the sense "fruit of the service tree", adopted via French ''sorbe'' from Latin ''sorbum'' "service-berry".
''Sorbus domestica'' is also known as "whitty pear", the adjective whitty meaning "[[pinnate]]". The name "mountain-ash" for ''Sorbus domestica'' is due to a superficial similarity of the rowan leaves to those of the [[Fraxinus|ash]], not to be confused with ''[[Fraxinus ornus]]'', a true ash that is also known as "mountain ash".<ref>"The similarities in the physical characteristics of all three types of tree [viz., ''Fraxinus excelsior'', ''Fraxinus ornus'', and ''Sorbus aucuparia''] are pervasive enough that they are confused not only in folk terminology, but also in botanical nomenclature". Richard Stoll Shannon (1975). ''The Arms of Achilles and Homeric Compositional Technique'' Volume 36 of ''Mnemosyne'', (Brill), [https://books.google.com/books?id=CLcfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA41 p. 41]. The English herbalist [[John Gerard]] in 1590 apparently fell victim to just this confusion, equating ''ornus'' and quickbeam (see below).</ref> ''Sorbus torminalis'' is also known as "chequer tree"; its fruits, formerly used to flavour beer, are called "chequers", perhaps from the spotted pattern of the fruit.
The traditional name rowan was applied to the species ''[[Sorbus aucuparia]]''. The name "rowan" is recorded from 1804, detached from an earlier rowan-tree, rountree, attested from the 1540s in northern dialects of English and [[Scots language|Scots]]. It is often thought to be from a [[North Germanic]] source, perhaps related to Old Norse ''reynir'' (c.f. Norwegian ''rogn'', Danish ''røn'', Swedish ''rönn''), ultimately from the [[Common Germanic|Germanic]] verb ''[[:wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/raudaz|*raud]][[:wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/-inōną|-inan]]'' "to redden", in reference to the berries (as is the Latin name ''sorbus'').
Various dialectal variants of ''rowan'' are found in English, including ''ran'', ''roan'', ''rodan'', ''royan'', ''royne'', ''round'', and ''rune''.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
The [[Old English]] name of the rowan is ''cwic-beám'', which survives in the name quickbeam (also quicken, quicken-tree, and variants). This name by the 19th century was reinterpreted as connected to the word [[witch (word)|witch]], from a dialectal variant ''wick'' for quick and names such as wicken-tree, wich-tree, wicky, and wiggan-tree, giving rise to names such as [[witch-hazel]]<ref>"Witch-hazel" is much more commonly associated with ''[[Hamamelis]]''.</ref> and witch-tree.<ref>Abram Smythe Palmer, ''Folk-etymology: a Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in Form Or Meaning, by False Derivation Or Mistaken Analogy'' (1882), [https://books.google.com/books?id=fXrlvr_kPXwC&pg=PA443 443f].</ref>
The tree has two names in [[Welsh language|Welsh]], ''cerdinen'' and ''criafol''. Criafol may be translated as "The Lamenting Fruit", likely derived from the Welsh tradition that the [[Christian cross|Cross of Christ]] was carved from the wood of this tree, and the subsequent association of the Rowan's red fruit with the blood of Christ.
The [[Old Irish]] name is ''cairtheand'', reflected in Modern Irish ''caorthann''. The "arboreal" ''[[Bríatharogam]]'' in the ''[[Book of Ballymote]]'' associates the rowan with the letter ''[[Luis (letter)|luis]]'', with the gloss "delightful to the eye (''li sula'') is ''luis'', i.e. rowan (''caertheand''), owing to the beauty of its berries". Due to this, "delight of the eye" (vel sim.) has been reported as a "name of the rowan" by some commentators.{{who|date=July 2013}}
The most common Scots Gaelic name is ''caorann'' ({{IPA-gd|/kɯːrən/}}), which appears in numerous Highland place names such as [[Beinn a' Chaorainn (disambiguation)|Beinn a' Chaorainn]] and [[Loch A' Chaorainn|Loch a’ Chaorainn]]. Rowan was also the clan badge of the Malcolms and McLachlans. There were strong taboos in the Highlands against the use of any parts of the tree save the berries, except for ritual purposes. For example, a Gaelic threshing tool made of rowan and called a buaitean was used on grain meant for rituals and celebrations.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}
In the [[Canadian province]]s of [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] and [[Nova Scotia]], this species is commonly referred to as a "dogberry" tree.<ref>Story, G. M. and  Kirwin, W. J. (1990). ''Dictionary of Newfoundland English''. University of Toronto Press. {{ISBN|0-8020-6819-7}}.</ref>
In [[German language|German]], ''Sorbus aucuparia'' is known as the ''Vogelbeerbaum'' ("bird-berry tree") or as ''Eberesche''. The latter is a compound of the name of the [[ash tree]] (''Esche'') with what is contemporarily the name of the boar (''Eber''), but in fact the continuation of a [[Gaulish]] name, ''eburo-'' (also the name for a dark reddish-brown colour, cognate with Greek ''orphnos'', Old Norse ''iarpr'' "brown"); like ''sorbus'', ''eburo-'' seems to have referred to the colour of the berries; it is also recorded as a Gaulish name for the [[yew]] (which also has red berries), see also ''[[Eburodunum (disambiguation)]]''.
==Botany==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
[[File:Sorbus glabriuscula 1.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Foliage and clusters of small white fruits|White-fruited rowan ''[[Sorbus glabrescens]]'', a Chinese species with white fruit]]
Rowans are mostly small [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s {{convert|10–20|m}} tall, though a few are [[shrub]]s. Rowans are unrelated to the true ash trees of the [[genus]] ''[[Fraxinus]]'', family [[Oleaceae]]. Though their leaves are superficially similar, those of ''Sorbus'' are alternate, while those of ''Fraxinus'' are opposite.<ref name="Blamey-2003">{{cite book|last1=Blamey|first1=M.|last2=Fitter|first2=R.|last3=Fitter|first3=A|year=2003|title=Wild flowers of Britain and Ireland: The Complete Guide to the British and Irish Flora.|publisher=A & C Black|location=London|isbn=978-1408179505}}</ref>{{rp|388}} Rowan [[leaf|leaves]] are arranged alternately, and are [[pinnate]], with (7–)11–35 leaflets.  A terminal leaflet is always present. The [[flower]]s are borne in dense [[corymb]]s; each flower is creamy white, and {{convert|5–10|mm}} across with five petals. The [[fruit]] is a small [[pome]] {{convert|4–8|mm}} diameter, bright orange or red in most species, but pink, yellow or white in some Asian species. The fruit are soft and juicy, which makes them a very good food for [[bird]]s, particularly [[waxwing]]s and [[thrush (bird)|thrushes]], which then distribute the rowan [[seed]]s in their droppings.<ref name="Rushforth-1999"/> Due to their small size the fruits are often referred to as berries, but a [[Berry (botany)|true berry]] is a [[simple fruit]] produced from a single ovary, whereas a [[pome]] is an [[accessory fruit]].
Rowan is used as a food plant by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species; see Lepidoptera that feed on ''Sorbus''.
[[File:Rowan tree 20081002b.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Medium-sized tree bearing small red fruits, standing next to a country lane|Mature European rowan tree]]
The best-known species is the European rowan ''Sorbus aucuparia'', a small tree typically {{convert|4–12|m}} tall growing in a variety of habitats throughout northern Europe and in mountains in southern Europe and southwest Asia. Its berries are a favourite food for many birds and are a traditional wild-collected food in Britain and [[Scandinavia]]. It is one of the hardiest European trees, occurring to 71° north in [[Vardø Municipality]] in the far northern part of [[Arctic Norway]], and has also become widely [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] in northern North America.
[[File:Rowan flowers-oliv.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Cluster of fuzzy white flowers against foliage in dappled shadow|Rowan flowers]]
The greatest diversity of form as well as the largest number of rowan species is in Asia, with very distinctive species such as Sargent's rowan ''[[Sorbus sargentiana]]'' with large leaves {{convert|20–35|cm|0}} long and {{convert|15–20|cm|0}} broad and very large corymbs with 200–500 flowers, and at the other extreme, small-leaf rowan ''[[Sorbus microphylla]]'' with leaves {{convert|8–12|cm|0}} long and {{convert|2.5–3|cm}} broad. While most are trees, the dwarf rowan ''[[Sorbus reducta]]'' is a low [[shrub]] to {{convert|50|cm}} tall. Several of the Asian species are widely cultivated as ornamental trees.
North American native species in the genus ''Sorbus'' include the American mountain-ash ''[[Sorbus americana]]'' and Showy mountain-ash ''[[Sorbus decora]]'' in the east and Sitka mountain-ash ''[[Sorbus sitchensis]]'' in the west.
Numerous [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]], mostly behaving as true species reproducing by [[apomixis]], occur between rowans and [[whitebeams]]; these are variably intermediate between their parents but generally more resemble whitebeams and are usually grouped with them (q.v.).
==Uses==
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2021}}
Rowans are excellent small ornamental trees for parks, gardens and wildlife areas. Several of the Asian species, such as white-fruited rowan (''Sorbus oligodonta'') are popular for their unusual fruit colour, and Sargent's rowan (''Sorbus sargentiana'') for its exceptionally large clusters of fruit. Numerous [[cultivar]]s have also been selected for garden use, several of them, such as the yellow-fruited ''Sorbus'' 'Joseph Rock', of hybrid origin.<ref name="Rushforth-1999"/> They are very attractive to fruit-eating birds, which is reflected in the old name "bird catcher".
The wood is dense and used for carving and turning and for tool handles and walking sticks.<ref name="Vedel-1960">Vedel, H., & Lange, J. (1960). ''Trees and Bushes in Wood and Hedgerow''. Metheun & Co. Ltd., London.</ref> Rowan fruit are a traditional source of [[tannin]]s for [[mordant]]ing vegetable dyes.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Neighbourhood Forager: A Guide For The Wild Food Gourmet |last=Henderson |first=Robert K. |year=2000 |publisher=Key Porter Books |location=Toronto |isbn=1-55263-306-3 |page=68}}</ref> In Finland, it has been a traditional wood of choice for horse sled shafts and rake spikes. [[File:Freshly cross cut Sorbus aucuparia with heart-wood.jpg|thumb|alt=Round piece of wood showing cross-section|Freshly cross cut ''Sorbus aucuparia'' from the island of [[Engeløya]] in Norway with visible [[heartwood]]]] [[File:Freshly rip cut Sorbus aucuparia from the island of Engeloeya in Norway.jpg|thumb|alt=round piece of wood cut in half|Freshly rip cut ''Sorbus aucuparia'' from the island of Engeløya in Norway]]
The fruit of [[European rowan]] (''Sorbus aucuparia'') can be made into a slightly bitter jelly which in Britain is traditionally eaten as an accompaniment to game, and into jams and other preserves either on their own or with other fruit. The fruit can also be a substitute for coffee beans, and has many uses in alcoholic beverages: to flavour liqueurs and cordials, to produce country wine, and to flavour ale. In Austria a clear rowan schnapps is distilled which is called by its German name ''Vogelbeerschnaps'', Czechs also make a rowan liquor called ''jeřabinka'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://floratrek.hautetfort.com/archive/2011/08/17/titre-de-la-note.html |title=Sorbier des oiseleurs |publisher=Floratrek.hautetfort.com |date=2011-06-25 |access-date=2018-07-12}}</ref> the Polish Jarzębiak is rowan-flavoured vodka, and the Welsh used to make a rowan wine called ''diodgriafel''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/wfsberries.htm |title=Wild Food School |publisher=Countrylovers.co.uk |access-date=2018-07-12}}</ref>
Rowan [[cultivar]]s with superior fruit for human food use are available but not common; mostly the fruits are gathered from wild trees growing on public lands.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
Rowan fruit contains [[sorbic acid]], and when raw also contains [[parasorbic acid]] (about 0.4%–0.7% in the European rowan<ref>O Raspe, C Findlay, AL Jacquemart. ''Sorbus aucuparia L.'' The Journal of Ecology, 2000</ref>), which causes indigestion and can lead to kidney damage, but heat treatment (cooking, heat-drying etc.) and, to a lesser extent, freezing, renders it nontoxic by changing it to the benign sorbic acid. They are also usually too astringent to be palatable when raw. Collecting them after first frost (or putting in the freezer) cuts down on the bitter taste as well.{{Cn|date=December 2022}}
==Mythology and folklore==
===Mythology===
In [[Sami shamanism|Sami mythology]], the goddess [[Ravdna]] is the consort of the thunder-god [[Horagalles]]. Red berries of rowan were holy to Ravdna, and the name ''Ravdna'' resembles North Germanic words for the tree (for example, Old Norse ''reynir'').{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}
In [[Norse mythology]], the goddess [[Sif]] is the wife of the thunder god [[Thor]], who has been linked with [[Ravdna]]. According to ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'' the rowan is called "the salvation of Thor" because Thor once saved himself by clinging to it. It has been hypothesized that Sif was once conceived in the form of a rowan to which Thor clung.<ref name="Turville-Petre-1964">{{cite book |author-link=Gabriel Turville-Petre |author=Turville-Petre, E. O. G. |year=1964 |title=Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia |page=98 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson}}</ref>
In the [[Fianna Cycle]] of [[Irish mythology]], [[The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne]] sees the couple eloping, trying to escape the vengeance of the legendary leader [[Fionn Mac Cumhaill]], whom [[Grainne]] had spurned. The pair came to a forest guarded by the giant Searbhán. Searbhán allowed the pair to rest and hunt in his forest, as long as they did not eat the berries of his magical rowan tree. The pregnant Grainne desired the berries, and [[Diarmuid Ua Duibhne|Diarmuid]] was compelled to kill Searbhán to obtain them. His mortal weapons being powerless against Searbhán, he used the giant's own iron club to kill him. The pair climbed high into the rowan tree to eat the sweetest berries, then rested in the tree afterwards. This was in violation of the advice of [[Aengus]], the god of love, who had warned the couple that they should "not sleep in a cave with one opening, or a house with one door, or a tree with one branch, and that they would never be able to eat where they cooked, or sleep where they ate."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bardmythologies.com/diarmuid-and-grainne/ | title=Diarmuid and Gráinne |publisher=Bard Mythologies }}</ref> Fionn Mac Cuimhaill tracked the couple to the rowan tree and tricked Diarmuid into revealing himself through a game of chess. Aengus spirited Grainne away and Diarmuid leapt to safety, and the pursuit continued.
===Folk magic===
The European Rowan (''Sorbus aucuparia'') has a long tradition in European mythology and folklore. It was thought to be a magical tree and give protection against malevolent beings.<ref name="TreesforLife">{{cite web |publisher=Trees for Life |url=https://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythology-folklore/rowan2/ |title=Mythology and Folklore of the Rowan}}</ref> The tree was also called "wayfarer's tree" or "traveller's tree" because it supposedly prevents those on a journey from getting lost.<ref>{{cite book |author=Eyers, Jonathan |year=2011 |title=Don't Shoot the Albatross! Nautical myths and superstitions |publisher=A. & C. Black |place=London, UK |isbn=978-1-4081-3131-2}}</ref> It was said in England that this was the tree on which the Devil hanged [[devil's grandmother|his mother]].<ref name="Westwood-1985">{{cite book |author=Westwood, Jennifer |year=1985 |title=Albion: A guide to legendary Britain |place=London |publisher=Grafton Books |isbn=0-246-11789-3 |page=257}}</ref>
British folklorists of the [[Victorian era]] reported the folk belief in [[apotropaic]] powers of the rowan-tree, in particular in the warding off of witches. Such a report is given by [[Edwin Lees]] (1856) for the [[Wyre Forest]] in the English [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Edwin Lees |title=Pictures of nature in the Silurian region around the Malvern Hills and vale of Severn |publisher=H. W. Lamb |year=1856 |url=https://archive.org/details/picturesnaturei00leesgoog |via=Internet Archive |pages=274ff}}</ref> [[Sir James Frazer]] (1890) reported such a tradition in Scotland, where the tree was often planted near a gate or front door.<ref name="Frazer-1987">{{cite book |author=Frazer, James |author-link=Sir James Frazer |title=The Golden Bough |title-link=The Golden Bough |page=620 |edition=Papermac |year=1987 |isbn=0-333-43430-7}}</ref>
According to Frazer, birds' droppings often contain rowan seeds, and if such droppings land in a fork or hole where old leaves have accumulated on a larger tree, such as an [[oak]] or a [[maple]], they may result in a rowan growing as an [[epiphyte]] on the larger tree. Such a rowan is called a "flying rowan" and was thought of as especially potent against witches and [[black magic]], and as a counter-charm against sorcery.<ref name="Frazer-1987"/> In 1891, [[Charles Godfrey Leland]] also reported traditions of rowan's apotropaic powers against witches in English folklore, citing the ''[[Denham Tracts]]'' (collected between 1846 and 1859).{{efn|"The anti-witch rhyme used in Tweedesdale some sixty or seventy years ago was: ''Black-luggie, lammer bead, rowan-tree and reed thread, put the witches to their speed.'' [...] I have seen a twig of rowan-tree [...] which had been gathered on the second of May (observe this), wound round with some dozens of yards of red thread, placed visible in the window to act as a charm in keeping witches and ''Boggle boes'' from the house." — C. G. Leland<ref>{{cite book |first=Charles Godfrey |last=Leland |title=Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling |year=1891 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phhjz8csco4C&pg=PA198 |via=Google Books |page=198|isbn=9781602066687 }}</ref>}} Rowan also serves as protection against [[fairies]]. For example, according to [[Thomas Keightley]] mortals could safely witness fairy rades (mounted processions held by the fairies each year at the onset of summer) by placing a rowan branch over their doors.<ref>{{cite book |author=Keightley, Thomas |year=1884 |orig-year=1828 |title=The Fairy Mythology |place=London |publisher=George Bell & Sons |pages=354–355}}</ref>
===Pagan revivalism===
In [[Neo-Druidism]], the rowan is known as the "portal tree". It is considered the threshold, between this world and otherworld, or between here and wherever one may be going, for example, it was placed at the gate to a property, signifying the crossing of the threshold between the path or street and the property of someone. According to Elen Sentier, "Threshold is a place of both ''ingress'' (the way in) and ''egress'' (the way out). Rowan is a portal, threshold tree offering you the chance of 'going somewhere ... and leaving somewhere."<ref name="Sentier-2014">{{cite book |last=Sentier |first=Elen |series=Shaman Pathways |title=Trees of the Goddess |year=2014 |publisher=Moon Books |location=[[New Alresford]], Hants, UK |isbn=978-1-78279-332-8}}</ref>
===Weather-lore===
[[File:Pihlajavesi.vaakuna.svg|thumb|upright|The rowan pictured in the former coat of arms of [[Pihlajavesi, Keuruu|Pihlajavesi]]]]
In [[Newfoundland]], popular folklore maintains that a heavy crop of fruit means a hard or difficult winter. Similarly, in Finland and Sweden, the number of fruit on the trees was used as a predictor of the snow cover during winter, but here the belief was that the rowan "will not bear a heavy load of fruit and a heavy load of snow in the same year", that is, a heavy fruit crop predicted a winter with little snow.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}
However, as fruit production for a given summer is related to weather conditions the previous summer, with warm, dry summers increasing the amount of stored sugars available for subsequent flower and fruit production, it has no predictive relationship to the weather of the next winter.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kobro, S. |author2=Søreide, L. |author3=Djønne, E. |author4=Rafoss, T. |author5=Jaastad, G. |author6=Witzgall, P. |year=2003 |title=Masting of rowan ''Sorbus aucuparia'' L. |journal=Population Ecology |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=25–30|doi=10.1007/s10144-003-0136-x |s2cid=43792838 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Raspe, O. |author2=Findlay, C. |author3=Jacquemart, A. |year=2000 |title=''Sorbus aucuparia'' |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=88 |issue=5 |pages=910–930|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00502.x |doi-access=free }}</ref>
In [[Malax]], Finland, the reverse was thought.<ref>Tillhagen, Carl-Herman. (1995). Skogarna och träden: Naturvård i gångna tider. Carlssons bokförlag, Stockholm.</ref> If the rowan flowers were plentiful then the rye harvest would also be plentiful.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} Similarly, if the rowan flowered twice in a year there would be many potatoes and many weddings that autumn.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} And in [[Sipoo]] people are noted as having said that winter had begun when the [[waxwings]] (''[[Bombycilla garrulus]]'') had eaten the last of the rowan fruit.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Mannhardt, Wilhelm |year=1963 |journal=Wald- und Feldkulte |volume=I |title=Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämmes |page=52 |publisher=Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Verlag |language=DE}}</ref>
In Sweden, it was also thought that if the rowan trees grew pale and lost colour, the autumn and winter would bring much illness.<ref>{{cite book |author=Tillhagen, Carl-Herman |year=1995 |title=Skogarna och träden: Naturvård i gånga tider |publisher=Carlssons bokförlag |place=Stockholm |language=sv}}</ref>
===Popular culture===
References to the rowan fruit's red color and the flowers' beauty are common in Celtic music. For example, the song "[[Marie's Wedding]]" contains the verse
<blockquote><poem>Red her cheeks as rowans are,
bright her eyes as any star,
fairest of them all by far,
is our darling Marie.</poem></blockquote>
[[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s novel ''[[The Two Towers]]'' employs rowans as the signature tree for the [[Ent]], Quickbeam. The forest of [[Treebeard|Fangorn]], where Quickbeam and other Ents live, is populated with numerous rowans that were said to have been planted by male Ents to please the female Entwives. Quickbeam declares his fondness for the tree by saying that no other "people of the Rose ... are so beautiful to me," a reference to the rowan's membership in the family [[Rosaceae]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J.R.R. |title=The Two Towers |date=1982 |publisher=Del Rey Books |at=Book 3, ch 4, page 102 |isbn=0345339711}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Rowntree (disambiguation)|Rowntree]], an English surname derived from "rowan tree"
* ''G''enus ''[[Whitebeam|Aria]]'' (formerly considered as a subgenus in the genus Sorbus)
* ''G''enus ''[[Micromeles]]'' (formerly considered as a subgenus in the genus Sorbus)
* ''G''enus ''[[Cormus (plant)|Cormus]]'' (formerly considered as a subgenus in the genus Sorbus)
* ''G''enus ''[[Torminalis]]'' (formerly considered as a subgenus in the genus Sorbus)
* ''G''enus [[Sorbus chamaemespilus|''Chamaemespilus'']] (formerly considered as a subgenus in the genus Sorbus)
== Explanatory footnotes ==
{{Notelist|1}}
== References ==
{{reflist|25em}}
==External links==
{{wiktionary|service tree|sorbus|mountain ash|rowan}}
{{Commons|Sorbus}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q12646464}}
[[Category:Sorbus]]
[[Category:Trees of subpolar oceanic climate]]