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 alnifolia Sorbus alnifolia Sorbus alnifolia (syn. "Aria alnifolia"), also called alder-leafed whitebeam, Korean whitebeam, or Korean mountain ash, , is a species of whitebeam native to eastern Asia in eastern and northern China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. "Sorbus alnifolia" is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 10–20 m tall with a trunk up to 30 cm diameter and grey bark; the crown is columnar or conic in young trees, becoming rounded with age, with branches angled upwards, and slender shoots. The leaves are green above, and thinly hairy with white hairs beneath, 5–10 cm long and 3–6 cm broad, simple, usually