326 PYRUS AUCUPARIA. 
The flowers, which put forth in May and June, occur in large white corymbs, of 
an almond-like scent, and are succeeded by brilliant scarlet, or purplish berries 
of a sour or bitterish taste. They usually begin to ripen in September, and often 
remain upon the trees until the following spring. 
Varieties. The varieties of the mountain ash are as follows : 
1. P. a. fructu lutea, Loudon. Yellow-fruited Mountain Ash, which may be 
continued by grafting. 
2. P. a. foliis variegatis, Loudon. Variegated-leaved Mountain Ash. 
3. P. a. fastigiata, Loudon. Fastigiate-branched Mountain Ash, having rigid 
and upright branches. 
4. P. a. Americana. American Mountain Ash ; Pyrus americana, of De Can- 
dolle and Loudon ; and Sorbus americana, var. ft of Michaux. The leaflets of 
this race are acute, almost equally serrated, glabrous, as is the petiole. Although 
a native of Canada, Newfoundland, Labrador, and the most northern parts of 
America, it closely resembles the European variety, being, apparently, a more 
robust-growing tree, with larger leaves, shining above, and smooth beneath. The 
young shoots are of a dark purplish colour, and are thought to be more tender 
than those of the common cultivated variety. The fruit is of a dark purplish- 
red, approaching to the colour of copper, and like the European variety, is of a 
globose form. This tree may be propagated from seeds, or by grafting on the 
Pyrus aucuparia; and, from the brilliant colour of the fruit, and the large size of 
the bunches, it well deserves a place in collections. 
5. P. a. microcarpa. Small- fruited Mountain Ash; Pyrus microcarpa, of De 
Candolle and Loudon; and Sorbus aucuparia, var. , of Michaux. This variety, 
which is indigenous to the mountainous parts of the United States, particularly 
to the whole range of the Alleghanies, may be distinguished from the preceding, 
by the young branches being covered with a dark-brown gloss, and by having 
small scarlet berries. The leaflets are unequally incisely serrated, with the teeth 
tipped with a bristle-like mucro. 
Geography and History. The Pyrus aucuparia is a native of most parts of 
Europe, from Iceland to the Mediterranean Sea. It is found in Asia from Rus- 
sia and Siberia, as far as the Eastern Ocean ; and from the cold woody region of 
the north, to the Alpine parts of Caucasus and Mount Libanus. In the former 
situations it is a low shrubby bush, and in the latter, a handsome tree of the 
third rank. It also occurs in Japan, and probably on other islands of the Indian 
Ocean ; and, as stated above, two of its varieties are indigenous to North Amer- 
ica. In Britain, it is common in woods and hedges, and in almost every cool and 
mountainous part of the island, as well as in Ireland. In France, Germany, and 
Switzerland, it occurs wild in the woods, and in the higher and colder regions of 
the mountains of Sicily, Italy, and Spain. 
This tree was known to the Greeks and Romans, and frequent mention is 
made of it by their poets and historians. Thus they tell us that the Amazons of 
ancient mythology formed their spears of its wood ; and Virgil was aware that it 
was susceptible of being grafted upon the pear, and that its fruit was sure to 
attract the thrush and the black-bird to any grove where it grew. Pliny consid- 
ered it as a species of ash; and Matthiolus, an Italian physician who wrote 
about the middle of the XVIth century, describes it under the name of Sorbus 
sylvestris. And to come down to more recent times, Evelyn, in speaking of this 
tree, says, that "ale and beer brewed with these berries, being ripe, is an incom- 
parable drink, familiar in Wales." They form, continues he, a tempting bait for 
the thrushes; so that, "as long as they last in your woods, you will be sure of 
their company." " Besides the use of it for the husbandman's tools, goads, &c, 
(he wheelwright commends it for being all heart; our fletchers commend it for 
bows, next to the yew, which we ought not to pass over, for the glory of our once 
