MOUNTAIN ASH 41 



berland Hawthorn, Hoar Withy, Lot-tree, Mulberry, Sea Ouler, Pear 

 Tree, Wild Cowbin, Quick Beam, White Rice, Serviceberry, Whip- 

 beam, Whipcrop, Whitebeam, Whiteleaf Tree. 



The name White Rice is given to the White Beam because of the 

 undersides of the leaves. It is called Whipbeam because the plough- 

 boy makes a horsewhip of it. 



The wood is hard and close-grained, and has been used for making 

 yokes. When mills were more numerous the wheels were made of 

 White Beam wood. After there has been a frost the fruit mellows, 

 and is eatable. 



An alcoholic spirit is yielded by it after fermentation. The berries 

 have been used for jam. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



105. Pyrus Aria, Ehrh. Tree, leaves ovate, deeply irregularly 

 serrate, white, downy below, those of flower-shoot oval, lobes deepest 

 near end of leaf, flowers white, corymbose, fruit red, subglobose. 



Mountain Ash (Pyrus Aucuparia, Ehrh.) 



In Flintshire fruits have been discovered in beds of Neolithic age, 

 proving that this is an ancient species. The Northern Temperate 

 Zone is its home, and it is found in Europe, Madeira, N. and W. Asia, 

 eastwards to the Himalayas, and in N. America. In Great Britain 

 it is found everywhere, except perhaps in Hunts and N. Lincoln. It 

 ascends to 2600 ft. in the Highlands. It is found native in Ireland. 



The Rowan Tree grows on hills and in woods, especially in the 

 latter, where it is associated with other woodland shrubs and trees, 

 such as Holly, Cherry, White Beam, Ivy, Elm, Oak, Beech, &c. 

 Owing to the superstitions attaching to it and the efficacy of its sup- 

 posed virtues, it is probably in very many localities only planted. 

 Rowan trees are familiar sights to the dweller in the town, where they 

 are much planted. They are erect trees with a thick main stem and 

 numerous branches, which arch overhead like those of hawthorn, &c. 

 The pinnate leaves are downy below, and serrate, the leaflets oval- 

 oblong, 1 2-1 6, and when old glabrous below. 



The flowers are white, in broad cymes, which are dense and com- 

 pound, and 6-12 in. across. Both the calyx and flower- stalk are 

 villous. The fruits are bright scarlet when ripe in August, subglobose, 

 and contrast strongly with the dark -green foliage, and are pomes, 

 containing 5 cells with 1-2 seeds in each. 



Ten to twenty-five feet is the average height of the Mountain Ash. 



