Rowan Rowan The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus "Sorbus" of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies occur. The name "rowan" was originally applied to the species "Sorbus aucuparia" and is also used for other species in "Sorbus" subgenus "Sorbus". Formerly, when a wider variety of fruits were commonly eaten in Europe and North America, "Sorbus" was a domestically used fruit throughout these regions. It is still used in
Sorbus aucuparia which is a hybrid with "Sorbus aria". The main pests for "S. aucuparia" are the apple fruit moth "Argyresthia conjugella" and the mountain-ash sawfly "Hoplocampa alpina". The rust fungus "Gymnosporangium cornutum" produces leaf galls. The leaves are not palatable to insects, but are used by insect larvae, including by the moth "Venusia cambrica", the case-bearer moth "Coleophora anatipennella", and leaf miners of the genus "Stigmella". The snail "Helix aspersa" feeds on the leaves. The plant can suffer from fire blight. Fossils of "Sorbus aucuparia" have been described from the fossil flora of Kızılcahamam district in Turkey, which is of early