﻿Trees; of S< ic Vorh Shiie -'M 



ROSACEAE 



rynis aiiioiifaiia (.Maisli.) DC. I Sorbus ainoiieaua Marsh.] 



American Mountain Ash 



Habit — A .small tree 20-30 feet in height with a triuik diameter of 4-12 

 inches, often a shrub propagating by means of root-suckers. Trunk short, 

 breaking up a few feet above the ground into spreading, slender branches 

 to form a narrow, round-topped head. 



Leaves — Alternate, odd-pinnately compound, 6-8 inches long, consisting of 

 13-17 sessile or nearly sessile leaflets arranged in pairs along a slender 

 petiole, the terminal leaflet stalked. Leaflets lanceolate, acuminate at the 

 ai>ex, rounded or cuneate and inequilateral at the base, serrate, 2-3 inches 

 long, %-% of an inch broad, at maturity thin, glabrous and dark 

 yellowish green above, paler below. 



Flowers — Appearing during May and June after the leaves are fully grown, 

 perfect, about ^8 of an inch in diameter, borne on short, stout pedicels in 

 flat, compound cymes 2-3 inches in diameter. Calyx gamosepalous, 

 obconic, puberulous, 5-lobed, the lobes short, triangular and tipped with 

 minute glands. Petals white, orbicular, short-clawed, inserted with the 

 stamens on the calyx-tube. Stamens about 20, exserted, with purplish 

 anthers. Pistil consisting of a 3-celled, inferior ovary surmounted by 3 

 distinct styles with capitate stigmas. 



Fruit — A stalked, globose, berry-like, bright red pome, about ^4 of an inch 

 in diameter, marked at the top by the persistent calyx-lobes, ripening in 

 the autumn and persisting until the following spring unless devoured by 

 birds. Flesh thin, acrid. Seeds light chestnut-brown, about % of an 

 inch long. 



Winter characters — Twigs rather stout, glabrous, somewhat glaucous, gray- 

 ish to reddish brown, at length dark bro-s\Ti. Terminal bud ovate to 

 broadly conical, somewhat curved, gummy and somewhat pilose without, 

 dense-woolly within, dark purplish red, %-V2 of an inch long. Lateral 

 buds smaller, somewhat flattened and closely appressed. Mature bark 

 thin, light gray, smooth or somewhat scaly. 



Habitat — Prefers open, moist sites along lake shores, mountain streams, the 

 margins of peat bogs and in damp woods, but thrives in drier situations 

 on the thin soils of ledges and rocky hillsides. 



Range — Newfoundland and southern Labrador westward to Manitoba, south- 

 ward into the northern border states and along the Appalachian moun- 

 tains to North Carolina. Zones C, D, and E. 



Uses — Of no commercial importance. The tree has ornamental value, espe- 

 cially the "decora" variety, and is occasionally cultivated in the north- 

 eastern state-s and southern Canada. The inner bark and fruit possess 

 some medicinal cpialities. 



