Sorbus aucuparia and flexible wood has traditionally been used for woodworking. It is planted to fortify soil in mountain regions or as an ornamental tree and has several cultivars. The binomial name "Sorbus aucuparia" is composed of the Latin words "sorbus" for service tree and "aucuparia", which derives from the words "avis" for "bird" and "capere" for "catching" and describes the use of the fruit of "S. aucuparia" as bait for fowling. The plant is commonly known as rowan and mountain-ash, and has also been called Amur mountain-ash, European mountain-ash, quick beam, quickbeam, or rowan-berry. The names rowan and mountain ash may
Sorbus aucuparia a light brown to reddish brown heartwood. It is diffuse-porous, flexible, elastic, and tough, but not durable, with a density of 600 to in a dried state. The roots of "S. aucuparia" grow wide and deep, and the plant is capable of root sprouting and can regenerate after coppicing. The compound leaves are pinnate with 4 to 9 pairs of leaflets on either side of a terete central vein and with a terminal leaflet. There are paired leaf-like stipules at the base of the petiole. The leaves are up to 20 cm long, 8 to 12 cm wide, and arranged