Mountain ash is the name for a group of trees and shrubs that grow in the Northern Hemisphere. Mountain ashes are not true ash trees. They grow chiefly in high places. The American mountain ash grows from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador south to northern Georgia. A mountain ash has compound leaves made up of several separate leaflets. The white flowers grow in large, flattened clusters. The orange-to-red fruits are clusters of berrylike pomes. In Australia, people call a kind of eucalyptus tree the mountain ash, but it is not closely related to the mountain ash plants of the Northern Hemisphere.
Mountain ash is valuable as wildlife food and as an ornamental tree for lawns and gardens. The wood from the European mountain ash, or rowan tree, may be used for making tool handles. Superstitious people once believed the rowan tree would drive away evil spirits.
