This month we’re taking a look at the Rowan tree, Sorbus acuparia. A common sight throughout the UK, their striking red berries are usually in full fruit by September, and their beautiful foliage is just on the point of taking on their vibrant autumn colour. Also referred to as the “Mountain Ash”, due to their physical similarities, Rowan trees are hardy, vigorous and extremely beneficial to a huge range of our native wildlife.

Starting life looking delicate and slender, Rowan trees grow to their height quickly and then begin to develop a more spreading crown, where space and climate allow. It is unusual for them to grow extremely tall, with 15 metres being about the limit for a mature tree although some can reach heights of 20 metres or a little more. They are also shorter lived than some of our other native specimens, with 200 years being the upper limit and most trees declining well before this age is reached. One of their most striking features which helps to easily and quickly identify them is their vibrant clusters of red berries in the autumn and winter, which follow thick clusters of creamy white flowers in the spring. Their feathery strands of leaves are partly responsible for Rowan trees being known as “Mountain Ash”, although the two species are not actually related. It is a wonderful species for supporting local biodiversity, with the berries feeing birds and mammals as well as the abundant pollen attracting pollinating insects and the foliage providing essential food for a number of creatures, including several native moth varieties. Much like the Birch tree, the Rowan can be a very useful pioneer species in difficult or inhospitable terrain, excelling as it does at finding a foothold in even the most challenging of landscapes and thriving happily even in higher altitudes and colder climates.

Rowan has long been believed to be a strong ward against evil, whether witches, the devil or just bad fortune. The colour red has long been considered to be have magical protective qualities, and the intense red of a Rowan’s berries may well have helped it to become a symbol of protection. Planting a Rowan tree outside of a door or in a front garden was thought to protect a house and those in it, just as decorating a cradle with a branch of a Rowan tree, or a cross made from Rowan wood, was believed to keep the baby safe from harm. Walking sticks cut from Rowan wood are even supposed to prevent the walker from becoming lost!

Many of the Rowan tree’s traditional uses have unfortunately fallen out of the mainstream. Being strong and flexible, it was a useful wood for making longbows and tool handles, as well as small hand tools like spindles. It can be carved well, and the bark can even be used to make a black dye which was used by the Celtic people to create ceremonial costumes for their druids. The berries of the Rowan can be made into a jelly, much like rosehip jelly, which is high in vitamin C, but they are completely inedible to humans before being cooked.

You will almost certainly be able to see a Rowan local to you without going very far, as they make excellent garden and park trees. There are many wild specimens throughout the West Country, where they are traditionally called “quickbeams” or “witchbeams”, with plenty of self seeded Rowans growing out of odd nooks and crannies on both Dartmoor and Exmoor. Arguably no walk on the moor is complete without spotting an enterprising Rowan growing out of some apparently inaccessible or inhospitable crack in the face of a tor! September is the perfect time to get out and about and spot their flaming berries, so why not plan a walk to see what you can find?