Pyrus aucuparia, 

 THE MOUNTAIN ASH. 



Synonymes. 



Sorbus aucuparia, 

 Pyrus aucuparia, 



Sorbier des oiseleurs, Sorbier des oiseaux, 



Aillame, Cochesne, Timier, 

 Sperberbaum, Vogelbeerbaum, 

 Sorbo lazzerola salvatica ottobrina; Sorba ") 



salvatica ottobrina, Sorbo salvatico, I j^^j^y 



LiNN^us, Species Plantarum. 

 De Candolle, Prodromus. 

 Don, Miller's Dictionary. 

 Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 



France. 



Germany. 



Sorba della Ragnaja del Palagio di 





Gianfigliazzi, Sorba della Romola, 

 Serbal sylvestre, Serbalde cazadores 

 Mountain Ash, Wild Ash, Wild Sorb,) 

 Wild Service, Mountain Service, Fowl- 

 er's Service, Quicken-tree, Quick 

 Beam , Witchen-tree, Wichen, Whitch- 

 en, Whitten, Wiggen-iree, 

 Rowan-tree, Rowne-tree, Roan-tree, Rod- 

 dan, Roddon, Rhodon, Routry, Rantry, 

 Mountain Ash, Wild Service-tree, 



Spain. 

 Enqland. 



Scotland. 

 Anglo-America. 



Derivations. The specific name aucupariais derived from the Latin aucupor, to seek or get by cunning; having reference 

 10 the use made of the berries of this tree in all countris where ii grows, and from time immemorial, to bail birds wilb 

 Whence the French names, Sorbier des oiseleurs, the Bird-catcher's Service-tree, and Sorbier des oiseaux, the Bird Service- 

 tree. The German name signifies the Bird's Berry-tree. This species is called Mountain Ash, from its growing on mountains, 

 and the pinnie of its leaves bearing some resemblance to those of the common ash. Witchen, and all its derivatives, bear rela- 

 tion to the supposed power of tliis tree, as a protection against witches and evil spirits. 



Engravings. Audubon, Birds of America, iv., pi. ccclxiii.; Selby, British Forest Trees, pp. 76 etSO; Loudon, Arboretum 

 Britannicum, vi., pi. 183 et 184 ; and the figures below. 



Specific Characters. Petals spreading, flat. Styles 25. Pomes globose. Buds softly tomentose 



Leaves impari-pinnate, serrated, and slightly 

 Prodromus 



labrous. Flowers in branched corymbs. De CandoUe, 



Description. 



" But what is higher beyond thought than thee 7 

 Fresher than berries of a mountain-tree ?" 



Keats. 



^^^HE Mountain Ash forms an 

 i-| pJ [^ erect-stemmed tree, some- 

 LI ^ times growing to a height 

 of twenty or thirty feet, with 

 a trunk a foot or more in diameter. When fully 

 grown, like most of its congeners, it assumes a some- 

 what formal character, having an orbicular head ; but ?( 

 in a young state, its branches are disposed in a more 

 loose and graceful manner. The bark is smooth and 

 gray on the old wood, but when young, it is of a pur- 

 plish-brown. The leaves are composed of eight or 

 nine pair of leaflets, which are spear-shaped, notched 

 at the edges, except at the base, and terminated by 

 an odd one. They are smooth above, and nearly so 

 beneath, with channelled midribs, but no foot-stalks. 



