mountain ash

Mountain Ash, town, Wales

Mountain Ash, Welsh Aberpennar, town (1981 pop. 26,231), Rhondda Cynon Taff, S Wales. A former mining community, it depended upon the great coal mines nearby, which were developed in the 19th cent. A pavilion was built in 1906 to house the annual Welsh arts festival, the eisteddfod.

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mountain ash, in botany

mountain ash, name for any species of the genus Sorbus of the family Rosaceae (rose family), hardy ornamental trees and shrubs native to the Northern Hemisphere, not related to the true ashes. They are deciduous and bear flat-topped clusters of white flowers followed by orange or brilliant red berrylike fruits, for which they are widely cultivated as ornamentals. The astringent pome fruits are often used in domestic remedies. Of native kinds, the most common is the American mountain ash (S. americana), ranging from Newfoundland to North Carolina. Introduced species are often cultivated, especially the common European mountain ash or rowan tree (S. aucuparia). This tree is one of the most revered plants in the folklore of the Old World. It warded off evil influences and was "Thor's helper"; bits of the wood were thought to avert almost any disaster. Mountain ash is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

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mountain ash

Any of several shrubs or trees of the genus Sorbus, in the rose family, native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are widely cultivated as ornamentals for their white flower clusters and bright-orange fruits. Most noteworthy are the handsome American mountain ash, or dogberry (S. americana), and European mountain ash (S. aucuparia), also called rowan, or quickbeam. The European species grows to 60 ft (18 m), twice as high as the American species.

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mountain ash

symbol of prudence. [Tree Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 176]

See : Prudence