Mountain ash is one of the most beloved and popular trees in our country. They plant it in parks and squares, along roads, in the yards of high-rise buildings. And, of course, very often mountain ash is an important element in the landscape design of country houses. The similar popularity of this plant is primarily due to its beautiful appearance, as well as its ability to grow on any soil and unpretentiousness.
What does the name "mountain ash" mean
The word "mountain ash" is directly related to the other two - "bird" and "catch". This tree got its name for a reason . The fact is that its bright fruits practically do not crumble and can hang on branches in winter. And this, of course, attracts a huge number of different birds to the mountain ash.
general description
Sometimes Internet users ask the question: "Is rowan a shrub or a tree?" The answer to it is pretty simple. Most often, the mountain ash is not too tall (5 to 10 m) tree with a perfectly straight trunk and a dense ovoid crown. There are also shrubby varieties. The bark of the trunk and branches of all varieties is grayish in color and smooth. The leaves of the mountain ash are oblong or oblong-lanceolate, unpaired, alternate. Their beautiful appearance is one of the reasons for the popularity of mountain ash as an ornamental plant. Young leaves are pubescent, old ones are not.
The mountain ash tree blossoms quite beautifully. Her flowers are gathered in a panicle, may have a white color or with a slight pinkish tinge. However, their smell is not particularly pleasant. Rowan fruits annually, but a good crop can be obtained only once in about 3 years. This plant blooms either in late spring or early summer. Fruits begin to develop in September. Gradually they become bright red or black. The shape of the fruits of mountain ash is round or apple-shaped. Of course, to the taste of the same cherries and grapes, they, of course, are inferior. However, their usefulness may well argue with them.
Rowan seeds have a crescent shape and a reddish tint. Fruiting begins quite late - on the 5-7th year of planting. The rowan tree begins to produce the most abundant harvests after about 30 years of growth. From one adult old plant, you can collect up to 100 kg of berries per year.
Mountain ash is widespread not only in our country, but also in Europe, as well as in North America and throughout Asia.
Methods of propagation of mountain ash
Mountain ash ordinary - a tree propagating both by seedlings and by seeds, cuttings or root processes. Most often, the first and last methods are used. Despite the fact that the tree is very unpretentious, when planting seedlings in the holes, manure and mineral fertilizers must be added. In order for the root system to begin to actively develop, the plant is cut off, leaving about 5 buds on it. Rowan seedlings are taken very easily, and this tree grows quickly enough. To plant this ornamental plant is best in autumn. Saplings are usually obtained by grafting a kidney or cuttings to a seedling.
Growing Features
As already mentioned, mountain ash can feel good on absolutely any soil. Another remarkable feature is frost resistance. This plant is able to endure the most severe winters without any harm to itself. To high temperatures, the mountain ash tree is also very stable. Watering practically does not require and tolerates drought well. However, it is still necessary to moisten the soil under it in the summer from time to time. Another advantage of this plant is wind resistance. The root system is well developed. Very well tolerates mountain ash and gas contamination of city streets.
Rowan decorative value
The answer to the question of whether mountain ash is a shrub or tree is given above. And that, and another variety is often used for decorative purposes. The popularity of this tree as a plant used in landscape design is due to many reasons. First of all - this, of course, is the beauty of the crown itself, which is compact and dense. Weeping species of this plant are especially appreciated.
In addition, the leaves of rowan trees, which have an unusual shape and acquire orange-reddish hues in the fall, have decorative value. Another reason for its popularity in this regard is the bright berries that cover the crown in large numbers and retain their attractiveness until late winter.
Types of mountain ash
The genus of mountain ash has more than forty varieties. However, far from all of them are widespread. In gardens and parks you can find both red-fruited and aronia, isolated in a separate form, mountain ash. The healing properties are possessed by the fruits of both colors. The highest prevalence as an ornamental plant was received by the mountain ash tree. All varieties of this plant belong to the family of deciduous deciduous and are classified into two main subspecies that differ in leaf shape.
Rowan was very seriously selected by the famous Russian scientist of the last century I.V. Michurin. He was bred several new hybrids of this wonderful plant. In his laboratory, they also received such a variety as chokeberry - a tree similar to common mountain ash, but in fact it is not. This plant is a hybrid called chokeberry.
The most famous rowan hybrids
Hybrids of this plant can be created in a mixture with many others. For example, one of the most famous is the variety Krathegozorbuz. This is a very interesting hybrid of mountain ash and hawthorn. Malozorbus is another common mixture. It is a hybrid of mountain ash and apple tree. Sorbapirus is a mixture with a pear, characterized by dark ribbed, very tasty, sweet-acid fruits. Another interesting variety is Amelozorbus, which is a mixture of mountain ash and berry.
Medicinal properties of fruits
Mountain ash ordinary - a tree whose fruits are also used to improve the body. Our ancestors knew about the healing properties of these berries. The fruits of mountain ash just contain a huge amount of vitamins (C, E, P, K). In addition, fructose, glucose, sorbic acid and caratin are present in the juice and pulp of plant berries. A lot of them and also tannins.
It is recommended to take decoctions from rowan berries for diseases such as atherosclerosis and hypertension. They also drink them with impaired renal, liver and heart function. Mountain ash juice also helps with hemorrhoids, gastritis and low acidity. Sorbic acid is fatal to staphylococcus and dysentery bacillus. Therefore, rowan berries are often used as food preservatives or to purify water. Our ancestors also knew that if you throw a branch of mountain ash into a bucket of water, it will acquire a pleasant taste and will not deteriorate for a long time.
Mountain ash - a tree, a photo of which you can see on this page, has one more rather interesting property. Its berries are able to alleviate the condition of the patient with oxygen starvation. Our ancestors used the juice and decoctions of the fruits of this tree to treat those burned as a result of a furnace malfunction. In addition, the juice of rowan berries increases blood coagulability and reduces cholesterol. It also has choleretic and diuretic properties.
The panicles of this plant, as already mentioned, are white. Mountain ash (for a tree, or rather its flowers, the pink color is also sometimes characteristic) is valued not only for the medicinal properties of fruits. For medical purposes, the flowers of this plant are used in both shades. For example, they help very well with all kinds of female ailments and from coughing.
What diseases are berries used for?
The red rowan tree gives the fruits used as a medicine for the following ailments:
- sclerosis and cardiosclerosis;
- hemorrhoids;
- goiter;
- heavy menstruation (to increase hemoglobin in the blood);
- as a contraceptive.
Of course, there are mountain ash and contraindications. You can not take drugs based on its fruits with increased blood coagulation and thrombosis. It is also not recommended the use of such drugs for gastritis with high acidity, stomach ulcer or duodenal ulcer.
Rowan in cosmetics
Mountain ash ordinary - a tree whose fruits were used for cosmetic purposes in ancient Greece. Infusions of berries were used for washing, as a hair rinse, as baths for hands, etc. Modern cosmetologists advise using pulp made from the pulp of berries to improve the skin of the face. For aging oily skin, a mask of berry juice mixed with egg white whipped into steep foam can be used as an anti-aging agent.
Mountain ash (a tree, the photo of which is given just below), or rather its fruits, are often used for weight loss. To do this, you just need to brew berries like tea (20 cups per glass of boiling water). You can also prepare a decoction of crushed fruits mixed with thin branches. Since mountain ash binds carbohydrates in the body, you can even cook a sweet remedy from its berries for weight loss. To do this, take a pound of sugar per kilogram of fruit. Take this jam one tablespoon per day.
Ritual significance of mountain ash
Once upon a time, in pre-Christian Russia, the red rowan tree had, among other things, sacred ritual significance. For example, in the Central regions it was used during wedding ceremonies. The leaves of the bride and groom spread their leaves, and they laid berries in their pockets. This was done in order to protect the future family from the machinations of sorcerers and witches. With the same purpose planted mountain ash and next to the house. Until now, this tree is considered a symbol of family happiness. In the Middle Ages in Russia, mountain ash was used to expel the spirits of the disease. Patients were laid on its branches for healing.
The mountain ash tree, the description of which is given above, is a plant about which various legends are composed. For example, there is a very interesting legend explaining the bitterness of its fruits. In ancient times, it was believed that this tree was created by Satan himself from the tears of Eve shed by her when she was expelled from paradise. He did this as a sign of his triumph over humanity. However, the Creator, seeing that the leaves of this tree resemble a cross, took it from the garden of the devil. Of course, Satan did not like this, and for a long time he tried to steal and destroy the mountain ash. However, all he could do was make her berries bitter. But at the same time, a divine sign appeared on them - a five-pointed stigma in the form of a star of Bethlehem. Until now, this “mark” on the fruits of mountain ash is considered a symbol of the imminent second coming.
About this wonderful tree, not only legends were composed, but also poems and proverbs. By the way, not only in antiquity. The songs of Yevgeny Rodygin “Oh, curly rowan” and Irina Ponarovskaya “Rowan beads”, we think, are well known to everyone in our country.
Folk omens associated with mountain ash
There are several signs associated with this tree:
- If the tree is a mountain ash, the description of the flowers of which is given above, in the spring everything is strewn with white or pinkish panicles, then this year oats and flax will be born.
- A high harvest of wild species in the forest portends a rainy autumn, a low - respectively, dry.
- If the leaves on the mountain ash turned yellow very early, then the autumn will be early and the winter cold.
Mountain ash harvesting
The answer to the question of whether mountain ash is a shrub or tree, you now know. However, whatever the variety of this plant is, it is possible to collect its fruits, from the moment of ripening to late frosts. It is most convenient to cut off the brushes with a sharp knife or secateurs. Already on earth they are cleared of the stalks and all kinds of garbage.
Berries are dried in an oven at a temperature of about 70 degrees. You can do this also in the open air, of course, not in rainy weather. Mountain ash berries retain their healing properties for two years. In winter, they can be brewed as tea or ground in a coffee grinder and added as seasoning to various dishes. From chokeberry, in addition, jam is cooked, and from red chokeberry make delicious marmalade.
The mountain ash tree is unusually beautiful in autumn because of the berries of bright red or red-orange color. However, its fruits have a not very pleasant bitter taste. But after the first frost, he disappears. Therefore, it is best to collect the fruits of this tree in late October or early November. Bitterness in berries is caused by a special substance, amygdalin. By the way, it will be said that it cannot be considered safe. In the stomach, it decomposes to hydrocyanic acid. Therefore, eating too many bitter rowan berries is not recommended.
Interesting Facts
The healing and decorative properties are not the only advantages of this wonderful tree. Very high quality carpentry is made from mountain ash wood . Its distinctive properties are hardness and elasticity. In antiquity, spinning wheels and spindles were mainly made from this wood. In addition, mountain ash can serve as a mother plant for other members of its family, for example, pears and quinces.
One of the most interesting varieties of mountain ash is large-fruited (Sorbus domestica). It was bred in the Crimea by the Crimean Tatars. The fruits of this variety can be pear-shaped or round. At the same time, they reach a diameter of about 3.5 cm and a weight of 20 g. Their taste is just wonderful. However, this variety requires shelter for the winter and is far from as unpretentious as ordinary varieties. In some regions, it is believed that mountain ash is a widow's tree. If you cut it down, there will be a dead person in the house.
At the beginning of the XX century, mountain ash was used for the preparation of tinctures on an industrial scale. They were made from the fruits of an ignorant variety. However, the tincture was called "Nezhinsky." Why its manufacturers have chosen just such a name is still unknown. It was believed that this was done in order to confuse competitors. There was also an opinion that such a name was given to tincture because “non-female” sounds nicer than “ignorant”. By the way, it was in the village of Nevezhino, Vladimir Region, for the first time that varieties of mountain ash were found with sweet fruits without bitterness. Subsequently, they spread throughout Russia.
You can see a beautiful photo of the mountain ash tree a little higher. In the people, its fruits are called berries. However, from a biological point of view, they are nothing more than apples. The presence of a rare vitamin P in them puts mountain ash in one of the first places among all medicinal plants. It is his presence in the juice that explains the ability of the fruits of this tree to eliminate irritability, insomnia and general weakness of the body.
Well, hopefully, we gave a fairly detailed description of such an interesting tree as mountain ash. High decorative qualities and unpretentiousness make it more than advisable to use it as a decoration for the courtyards of private houses and cottages, as well as city streets.