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 × intermedia each side of the leaf, broadest near the middle, rounded at the apex, and finely serrated margins. The autumn colour is dull yellowish to grey-brown. The flowers are 15–20 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens; they are produced in corymbs 8–12 cm diameter in late spring. The fruit is an oval pome 15 mm long and 10 mm diameter, orange-red to red, maturing in mid autumn. The fruit is dryish, and eaten by thrushes and waxwings, which disperse the seeds. "Sorbus intermedia" is a triple hybrid between "S. aucuparia", "S. torminalis", and either "S. aria" or