192 THE TREE BOOK 



blossoms in a bunch. Let us examine the leaves. 

 They are compound alternate, with red grooved 

 gitalks and from nine to seventeen sharply 

 toothed leaflets. The rowan tree, or European 

 mountain ash, differs from the American spe- 

 cies in its hairy young leaves and its woolly 

 flower stems and calyx. This tree holds a par- 

 ticular attraction for the will-o'-the-wisp and 

 the mountain fairies. It has also been linked 

 with witchcraft, and there is said to be a power 

 about it to dispel evil spirits. 



