Rowan seeds

Rowan / Sorbus aucuparia

It is a deciduous tree of the Rosaceae family, up to 20 m high (mostly 4-6 m), rarely a shrub with a superficial root system. The bark is gray, smooth, the young branches are fluffy. The leaves are alternate, pinnate, oblong or oblong-lanceolate. Young leaves pubescent below, later ones glabrous. The flowers are white or pinkish with an unpleasant odor (the smell of trimethylamine, reminiscent of the smell of horse manure), collected in a dense corymbose inflorescence - panicle, up to 10 cm in diameter. Fruits - spherical, apple-shaped, bright red or orange-red, juicy.

Seeds are reddish, crescent-shaped, sharp at the end. Blossoms in May - June, fruits ripen in September - October and usually remain on the trees until late winter. Fruits from 5-7 years of age annually. A good harvest of mountain ash is usually observed every 1-3 years, the largest yield is from 35-40 years. One tree can produce up to 80-100 kg of fruit. Propagated by seeds and root suckers.

Rowan berries are relatively edible because they are undesirable to eat raw (especially in large quantities), because they have a strong astringent, diuretic (up to kidney damage) and laxative effect due to the high level of parasorbic acid.