The Sorbus is a genus of woody plants of the tribe Applewood, which is a member of the family Pink. According to information taken from various sources, this genus includes 80-100 species. Red or common Ryabinia (Sorbus aucuparia) is a fruit tree and species of the genus Ryabinia, it is widely distributed practically all over Europe, the Caucasus and Western Asia. This species has an extensive range that reaches even to the Far North. In the mountains, the red mountain ash grows in the form of shrubs, with them rising up to the border of vegetation.
The scientific name of the genus "sorbus" comes from the Celtic language, it means "bitter, tart", this is due to the taste of the berries. The name of the species came from the Latin word, which translates as "bird" and "catch". The fact is that the berries of this plant like to eat birds, so people used them as bait.
This tree was part of the culture of the Scandinavians, Slavs and Celts. They believed that the rowan tree had magical powers.
For example, it helped warriors in battle and provided protection from sorcery and from the world of the dead. If you look at the fruit of this plant from below, it will be similar to one of the very ancient pagan symbols of protection - the five-pointed equilateral star. During weddings, the leaves of the rowan tree were placed in the shoes of the bride and groom. Its wood was used to make travel staves. Such a plant was planted near the house and if it was ruined or damaged it was a very bad omen.
Peculiarities of the rowan tree
The common rowan tree is a shrub or tree that does not exceed 12 meters in height. The crown is rounded and the red-gray stems are pubescent on the surface. Mature trees have smooth, glossy bark that is either brownish gray or gray-yellow. Nonparietal alternately arranged leaf blades are about 20 centimeters long; they consist of 7 to 15 acuminate, elongated leaves with serrated edges; their front surface is matt green, while the reverse is lighter colored and pubescent. In autumn the foliage changes its color to red and golden hues.
The final luxuriant, shield-shaped inflorescences are about 10 centimeters in diameter and consist of a large number of white-colored flowers that have an unpleasant fragrance. The fruit is a juicy red-orange apple about 10 mm in diameter. Such a tree blossoms in May-June. The berries fully ripen in the last weeks of the summer period or the first - in autumn.
When planting it should be taken into account that this culture extremely negatively reacts to smoke and gassiness, as well as to waterlogged and stagnant water in the ground.
The wood of the rowan tree is distinguished by resilience and hardness, it is very easy to handle. In ancient times it was used for making runes and spindles. The berries of this crop are used for making fabric dyes.
Putting rowan trees in open ground
Because the rowan tree is rather tall it is recommended to plant it on the border of the garden so it would not cause shading of the plot. A nutritious soil is best (light to medium loam, which holds water very well), but the rowan tree can also be planted on a less fertile soil.
Planting is recommended in spring before the sap starts to flow or in autumn during leaf fall. In order to obtain a good harvest, it is recommended to plant several plants of different varieties at the same time.
When buying seedlings, make a careful inspection of their root system, note that it should be fully healthy and well developed. A well-developed root system has 2 or 3 ramifications, reaching a length of more than 0.2 m.
A seedling with dried and weathered roots is not recommended. Examine the bark, it should not be wrinkled but rather smooth. Break off a small piece of bark from the plant, if its inner side is brown, the seedling may be dead. In a normal living plant, it will have a green color. Before planting, the plant should be prepared by cutting out any stems and roots that have been injured, dried out or damaged by disease.
If the rowan tree is planted in autumn, all the leaf plates are stripped from the branches, and care should be taken not to injure the buds in the axils.
A distance of 4 to 6 meters should be kept between the seedlings, the same distance should be kept from the rowan tree to other trees in the garden. The diameter as well as the depth of the hole can vary from 0.6 to 0.8 m.
Before planting, prepare a soil mixture, which should consist of 5 kilograms of topsoil and peat compost, 200 grams of superphosphate, 2-3 shovels of decomposed manure and 100 grams of wood ash. Mix everything well. Fill the pit to 1/3 of this soil mixture, then up to half of it should be filled with simple soil. Then 10 litres of water is poured into the pit. Wait until the liquid has been completely absorbed into the soil.
The root system of the plant should be dipped into the clay putty, then it is immediately placed in the center of the pit, which is covered with soil from the top layer or the remains of the earth mixture. When the plant is planted, the surface of the soil around it should be tamped, then it is well watered. The tree should be planted 20-30 mm deeper than it was grown in the nursery. Once the water has been completely absorbed into the root zone, it should be covered with a layer of mulch (peat, grass, sawdust, humus, hay, straw or other organic material) varying in thickness from 5 to 10 cm.
Care for rowanberry
There is nothing unusual about growing a rowan tree.
For the normal growth and development of the plant, it is necessary to water it in time, weeding, loosening the soil surface, pruning, feeding and treatments to control pests and diseases.
This tree needs watering only during a prolonged drought. It should be taken into account that the plant needs obligatory watering at the very beginning of the vegetation period and after planting in the open soil, and another 15-20 days before harvesting and 2-3 weeks after that. It is recommended to make grooves around the perimeter of the root zone, into which water is poured during watering. For one watering per tree 20 to 30 litres of water should be taken, the final volume of the liquid used depends on the condition and composition of the soil, as well as on the age of the cranberry tree itself.
The surface of the rootstock circle should be loosened at the beginning of the spring period, during the summer this procedure should be done 2 to 3 times. And you must also loosen the surface of the root ball after all the harvesting has been done. The easiest way is to loosen the soil the day after the rain or watering. During the loosening you must pull out all the weeds. When the bedding circle is loosened, its surface should be covered again with a layer of mulch.
For the rowan tree to be more productive, it will need systemic fertilizers. From the third year of growth, humus or compost - 5 to 8 kilograms and ammonium nitrate - 50 grams are added to the soil under the plant. In early June, 1 bucket of a solution of bird manure (1:10) or cowpea (1:5) should be poured under the tree. A solution of Agrolife can be used instead of organic fertilizer. In the last summer weeks, 100 grams of superphosphate and 500 milligrams of wood ash should be applied to the root zone.
Trimming is carried out at the very beginning of the spring period before the buds awaken. All withered, diseased and inwardly growing shoots should be cut out, as well as those that branch out at right angles. Varieties which bear fruit on last year's stems will need thinning out and a slight shortening of the branches. If, however, fruiting is observed on various types of fruit formations, such trees will need periodic thinning and rejuvenation of ringlets, as well as shortening of skeletal branches.
The most important purpose of pruning rowan trees is to provide better and more uniform light to their crowns, this has an extremely positive effect on the yield of the plant.
Because it is a pyramidal tree, the branches grow at an acute angle to the trunk, making them more fragile. When shaping the skeletal branches, care should be taken to make them at an obtuse or right angle.
If the plant has weak growth, it will need rejuvenation pruning. This should be done on two or three years old wood, which will encourage the growth of new shoots.
Diseases and pests
In May or June the rowan tree should be carefully examined because the first symptoms of disease or insect infestation may appear at this time.
This plant is susceptible to the following diseases: anthracnose, septoriosis, brown and grey spot disease, powdery mildew, monolithiasis, scab, rust, necrosis (black, nectria and citospora) and viral ring mosaic. If the plant was planted completely healthy, with all the rules of agrotechnics of this culture observed during planting and care for it, then the rowan can never get sick at all. The fact is that only weakened trees are susceptible to disease. However, no matter what, it is necessary to periodically inspect the rowan tree in order to start treatment in time if necessary.
Any of the types of necrosis, as well as mosaic are incurable diseases.
In this connection, it is necessary to try to prevent the tree from getting sick at all, and for this purpose, a number of preventive measures should be taken. It is necessary to take very seriously the choice of planting material, the site will need pre-sowing preparation, which aims to destroy the pathogens. Also with the appearance of pests, which are vectors of viruses, you must as soon as possible get rid of them, and it is also very important that the root zone was always clean. Do not forget to make periodic inspections of the rowan tree because any disease is easier to cure at the initial stage of development.
The same diseases affect the rowan tree as other crops of the Rose family (apples, plums, pears).
About 60 species of mites and other pests that injure stems, berries, seeds, leaves, flowers and buds of the tree can infest the common mountain ash. Most of these pests can settle on various fruit crops in the rose family. The most common pests on the rowan tree are:
- Longhorned Weevils. Carbophos are used to kill them.
To get rid of them, spray the plant with Confidor, Aktara, and Lepidocide.
- Weedworms. Carbophos, Chlorophos or Cyanox can be used to control these pests.
- Mr. and Garlic Mites.
If they appear, the tree is sprayed with colloidal sulfur.
- Mallow moths. They are eradicated with Chlorophos.
- Green apple aphid. Destroy them with Decis or Actellic.
- Pitflies. They can be eliminated by spraying rowan trees with 30 Plus.
- Fruit sawflies. White mustard infusion is used to exterminate them. To prepare it, combine 1 liter of water and 10 grams of mustard powder, mix everything and leave for 24 hours.
Before use, the infusion should be diluted with water at a ratio of 1:5.
In order to prevent pests, the tree should be sprayed on the leaves before the sap starts, for this purpose a solution of copper sulfate (100 grams per 1 bucket of water) is used. Also quite effective spraying rowan and the surface of the stem circle with Nitrafen, which are carried out in spring. Also as a preventive measure, in autumn all foliage should be raked from the plot and destroyed, with the soil in the planting circles being recultivated.
Raspberry reproduction uses vegetative and generative (seed) methods.
Species of mountain ash are usually grown from seed. Seeds are sown in autumn time. First, they are taken out of the fruit and washed of the remaining pulp, then they need to be buried in the soil by 0.5-1 cm. The surface of the seeds should be covered with a layer of mulch (dried fallen leaves).
If the seeds are scheduled to be sown in the spring, they will need stratification. To do this, they are combined with coarse sand in a ratio (1:3), then the mixture should be kept at room temperature for 4-8 weeks, and after that for 3-4 months, put in the refrigerator shelf intended for vegetables. Seedlings that have shown need systematic watering and weeding, as well as loosening the soil surface around them. Transplanting seedlings into the school in the fall. A tree grown by generative method begins to bear fruit on the 4th-5th year.
Vegetative methods, such as green and woody cuttings, grafting, grafts and shoots are used for propagation of valuable varieties of mountain ash. As a rootstock for grafting a variety cuttings, it is recommended to take a seedling of the rowan tree Nevezhinskaia, Common or Moorovskaia. The grafting should be carried out during the first days of April, when the sap starts to flow, or in July or August. Remove the dressing from the grafting site after 20 days. The top of the rootstock should be trimmed and a spike should be left.
This spike should be used to garter the growing shoot.
If the rowan is rootstock, shoots can be used for propagation. Green cuttings do not root very well, averaging 4.5-6 cuttings out of 10. And woody cuttings root even worse than green ones.
Rye species and varieties with photos and descriptions
Gardeners cultivate most species of mountain ash. Most of these species are fruiting, but there are also ornamental species.
Boosterberry (Sorbus sambucifolia)
In natural conditions, this species is found in Japan and Khabarovsk Territory, as well as Sakhalin, Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. This spectacular shrub reaches a height of 250 cm. The crown is not very dense and can be either rounded or ovate.
Straight bare stems are dark brown in color and have a bluish patina on the surface, branches are gray with well-defined lenticels. The nonparipinnate leaflets are up to 18 centimeters long and have lanceolate leafstalks. The leaflets are made up of 7 to 15 oval-shaped, dark green leaflets, which are glossy and almost glabrous and rest on light red petioles. Complex corymbiform inflorescences consist of small flowers, about 15 mm in diameter, which are white or pale red. Sprigs and pedicels are covered with light reddish pubescence.
Edible berries are juicy, deep red, globular in shape, about fifteen mm in diameter and tart-sweet. They also have no bitterness and have a very pleasant smell. The fruits do not fall off the branches until spring. This plant is undemanding to the soil and is tolerant of drought and frost.
Hlogovina (Sorbus torminalis), or medicinal birch
Wildly this species can be found in the Crimea, Western Europe, the Caucasus, the southwestern part of Ukraine and in Asia Minor.
This species does not grow in very large groups or alone. The height of such a tree may reach 25 meters. Its trunk is covered with dark gray bark that has longitudinal cracks. On young shoots the bark is olive-colored. Simple broadly ovate leaf blades reach 18 centimeters in length, heart-shaped and rounded at the base, they are also pointed, on top there are from 3 to 5 lobes.
The front surface of the leaves is dark green and glossy, while the underside is hairy and downy. In fall, the color of the leaves changes to yellow or orange. Tight corymb-like inflorescences, 8 cm in diameter, consist of small white flowers (about 10 mm across). The rounded berries, which grow to 1.8 cm in diameter, are pale red or orange in color and gradually turn brown.
The powdery flesh is sweet and sour in taste. This species is highly resistant to frost, but not drought tolerant. There are 2 ornamental forms:
- with pubescent foliage;
- with pinnately dissected leaf plates.
Homeberry (Sorbus domestica), or Mountain ash (Crimean)
In natural conditions this species occurs in southern Western Europe and the Crimea and prefers to grow in the underbrush of broad-leaved woodland singly or in groups. This plant is distinguished by its slow growth and reaches 15 m in height.
The crown shape is broadly pyramidal or globular. The bark covering the trunk is already cracked when the plant is young. But the stems are almost bare, smooth and glossy. The non-pinnate compound leaf laminae, which are up to 18 centimeters long, consist of smooth, glossy, acuminate, lanceolate leaflets, green in color and about 50 mm long. Broadly pyramidal, branched, felted, topped inflorescences, about 10 centimeters in diameter, composed of flowers, about 15 mm across and painted white or pale pink.
The longish-ovoid or pear-shaped berries, 30 mm in diameter, may be yellow-green, red or brown in color, have a powdery, fragrant, slightly sweet astringent flesh, which includes many stony cells. Such a plant is resistant to pests, drought and frost. There are 2 forms:
Rubular-leaved (Sorbus aria), or aria, or floury mountain ash
In nature this species is found in the Carpathians and in the mountains of Central and Southern Europe. The height of such a sturdy tree is about 12 meters.
The crown shape is broadly pyramidal. The trunk is covered with brownish-red or brownish bark and there is felted pubescence on the stem surface. Leaf blades are leathery, whole, round-elliptical in shape and sharply duplicodendronate along the edge. During opening, the leaves are felted white; then they turn green. In fall the leaves change to various shades of bronze, which makes the mountain ash look like an alder.
The shoots, which are up to 8 centimeters across, consist of white flowers. The edible globular berries measure 15 mm across and are red-orange or pink-orange. The sweet and sour powdery flesh is not as tasty as in the sweet-fruited varieties. Cultivated since 1880. There are several garden forms:
The flowers and leaf-plates of this form are larger.
- Edible. Leaf blades elliptical or oblong in shape. The berries of such a plant are somewhat larger than those of the main species.
The foliage is colored pale yellow throughout the season. In the fall it turns an oily yellow.
- Manifica. During opening, the leaf plates are snow-white; in summer, their front surface becomes green. In autumn, their color changes to bronze.
The red berries on the surface have pubescence in the form of white tufts.
- Majestica. This plant is about 15 meters tall. It does not produce berries.
Hybrid (Sorbus x hybrida)
This plant is a natural hybrid of the intermediate mountain ash and red mountain ash.
Under natural conditions this species can be found in Northern Europe. The compound leaf plates combine simple pinnate and lobate leaflets. The front surface of the leaves is green and bare, while the back has pale gray or whitish pubescence. Gardeners grow only one other hybrid, the Thuringian variety, which was obtained by crossing the round-leaved rowan with the red rowan. Compared to the hybrid mountain ash, the blades on the leaf plates of this tree are not cut as much, but are more blunted and wider.
Red mountain ash (red)
A detailed description of this species can be found at the beginning of the article. It has a large number of ornamental varieties that differ from one another in berry color, crown shape and leaf color: Burka, Liquorice, Pomegranate, Michurin Dessert, Russian, Pyramidal, Weeping, Beisner, Nevezha, Moravian or sweet, Fifeana, etc. all of which retain their showy appearance. All of these forms retain their spectacular appearance throughout the growing season. Special attention should be given to the following forms:
Externally, this variety and the main species are very similar. These plants differ in that the berries of the Nevezhinskaya rowan have no bitterness and tartness even when unripe, whereas in the main species the fruits can be eaten only after the first frosts have passed.
- Moravian or sweetRyeberry. Found in nature in the Sudeten mountains. The leaf leaves are more delicate than other varieties, and flowering begins somewhat later.
Inflorescences can sometimes include about 150 flowers. The red-scarlet berries have juicy orange flesh and a sweet-sour taste.
- Liqueurberry. This variety came into being thanks to Michurin, for which he crossed the chokeberry with the red rowan. The color of berries is black and purple.
This rowan has a very high frost resistance.
- Granate. The species was born from crossing hawthorn and red mountain ash in 1925. The height of such a tree is about 400 cm. Smooth glossy simple leaf plates are about 17 centimeters long.
The leaves are elliptic or ovate in whole at the top and pinnately dissected at the bottom. The burgundy-sweet-sour berries are as large as cherries. The species is very frost-resistant.
- Burka. It was born in 1918 by crossing the red mountain ash with the alpine mountain ash.
The dark green simple leaf plates are pinnately dissected and weakly pubescent. The oblong brown-red berries are medium-sized. The rowan remains very beautiful throughout the season.
- Michurinskaya dessert. This is a hybrid between the liquorice rowan and the Germanic medlar.
The tree is only 300 cm tall and the crown is broad. Nonparapernate compound leaf leaves reach 18 centimeters in length and consist of 6 or 7 pairs of greenish leaflets, the inner surface of which is slightly pubescent. The medium-sized, dark red berries are very similar in shape to the fruit of the medlar tree. The tree is highly ornamental and frost-resistant.
Gardeners also grow such varieties of rowan as: mixed, intermediate, or Swedish, alder, Köhne, Vilmorena, Amur and some others.
Best varieties of red rowan
The purpose of this variety is table-dessert. The pink-yellow fruits are very showy.
Red rowan varieties such as: Kirsten Pink, Red Type, Carpet of Gold, White Max, Shimi Glow, Leonard Springer, Fastiguata, Integerrima, Jermins, Titan, etc.
Carpet in landscape design
Carpet in landscape design can play a minor or major role.
Arbors and arches are decorated with weeping rowan trees, they are also planted as a solitary plant in a meadow or clearing away from other trees
This plant looks nice in groups with other shrubs and trees such as wortwood, hellebore, snowberry or barberry. Also the rowanberry combines well with conifers (thuja, pine, fir or spruce). Especially in autumn the rowan looks very impressive against a bluish or green background of conifers. Also with deciduous trees: lime, black poplar, maple, ash and white willow. Most species of rowan are able to emphasize the effect of cranberry, mountain ash, honeysuckle and wrinkled rose.
Shrubby rowan can be used to create a hedge, on the background of which perennial flowers will look great. When choosing a place for planting such a crop, you should not forget that it reacts extremely negatively to the polluted and smoky air, which is inherent in cities.
Ryeberries in the garden. Review of species and varieties.
The properties of mountain ash: harm and benefit
The beneficial properties of mountain ash
The red mountain ash berries contain a lot of vitamin C, it contains even more than in lemons.
They also contain vitamins P, B2, PP, K and E as well as provitamin A, glycosides, amino acids, pectins, bitter substances, tannins, organic acids (succinic, citric and malic), flavonoids, iodine, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, alcohols, essential oil and phytoncides. These berries are characterized by diaphoretic, styptic, choleretic and diuretic effects. In Norway such a plant is used as a wound-healing and anti-edema agent, in Hungary it is used to treat dysentery, in Bulgaria with the help of berries are removed from kidney stones.
Since the berries contain many vitamins, they are used to improve the condition of the body in diabetes, kidney and liver diseases, anemia, hemorrhoids, digestive diseases, especially in gastritis, colitis and ulcers.
The rowan juice stimulates appetite, so it is recommended for rheumatic pains, exhaustion, kidney and bladder stones.
This juice has the ability to eliminate edema, normalize metabolism, lower blood cholesterol levels, stops bleeding and has an antimicrobial effect. The juice is also indicated for gout, atherosclerosis, asthenia, capillary fragility, hypertension, arrhythmia, bleeding and malignant tumors, and carbon monoxide poisoning.
The medicinal properties are found in the flowers, bark, leaf plates and berries of the rowan tree. Hypertension is treated by decoction of the bark, in case of scurvy, taking preparations from the leaves is recommended, because they contain a lot of vitamin C (more than berries). Preparations of flowers and berries are used in diseases of gastrointestinal organs, in metabolic disorders and for colds.
The plant can also be used externally for wounds, various inflammations, burns and warts.
In confectionery industry as raw material the berries of Common ash, which is a multivitamin agent, are used. They are used for making sweets, liqueurs, vodka, liqueur and tincture, jam, marmalade, jelly, marshmallows, jams and soft drinks.
A rich decoction of rowan berries is used in veterinary medicine for treatment of lung diseases in animals.
To improve health in the morning we recommend drinking a drink from rowan berries that has tonic properties.
In the evening, pour one big spoonful of fresh or dried rowan berries, barberry and rosehip into a 3-liter thermos. Fill it with freshly boiled water and cover tightly. This tea should be drunk in the morning and until lunch, then again pour into the thermos boiling water, wait until the drink is infused, and then drink again. When the prepared in the second drink will be finished, take out berries, mash them well and put them again in a thermos, filled with just boiling water. You will be able to use one portion of berries 3 times.
REACHING FEATURES OF RED MIDDLE. RECEPTIONS FOR TREATMENTS.
Marjoram berries should not be consumed by those who have had a heart attack or stroke as well as those with coronary heart disease and raised blood clotting. They are also not recommended for people with high stomach acidity.