Sorbus scopulina, also known as Greene's mountain-ash, is a species of rowan that is native to western North America, primarily in the Rocky Mountains.[1] The common name of this species is named in honor of American botanist Edward Lee Greene.[2] Throughout the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Northwest portions of this rowan's habitat, it is commonly called Cascade mountain-ash, sometimes listed as Sorbus scopulina var. cascadensis.[3]

Sorbus scopulina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Sorbus
Section: Sorbus sect. Commixtae
Species:
S. scopulina
Binomial name
Sorbus scopulina
Native range
Synonyms[1]
List
  • Pyrus scopulina (Greene) Longyear
  • Pyrus andersonii (G.N.Jones) M.F.Fay & Christenh.
  • Pyrus cascadensis (G.N.Jones) M.F.Fay & Christenh.
  • Sorbus alaskana G.N.Jones
  • Sorbus andersonii G.N.Jones
  • Sorbus angustifolia Rydb.
  • Sorbus cascadensis G.N.Jones
  • Sorbus dumosa Greene
  • Sorbus sambucifolia Rydb.
  • Sorbus scopulina var. cascadensis (G.N.Jones) C.L.Hitchc.
  • Sorbus sitchensis var. densa Jeps.
  • Sorbus sitchensis subsp. densa (Jeps.) A.E.Murray

Various birds and mammals, including bears, eat the fruit.[4] They were eaten by Native Americans and early settlers, and be cooked and made into jelly. They taste bitter when fresh, and are better when they redden. They should not be confused with poisonous baneberries,[5] particularly the red baneberry.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b McAllister, H.A. 2005. The genus Sorbus: Mountain Ash and other Rowans . Kew Publishing.
  2. ^ Petrides, George A. and Olivia 1998. "Western Trees". Houghton Mifflin Company.
  3. ^ USDA PLANTS Database
  4. ^ Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 399. ISBN 0-394-73127-1.
  5. ^ Reiner, Ralph E. (1969). Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies. Glacier Park, Inc. p. 42.
  6. ^ Reiner, Ralph E. (1969). Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies. Glacier Park, Inc. p. 116.
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