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 Himalaya, southern Tibet and parts of western China, 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.
Sorbus aucuparia, commonly called rowan and mountain-ash, is a species of deciduous tree or shrub in the rose family. It is a highly variable species, and botanists have used different definitions of the species to include or exclude trees native to certain areas; a recent definition includes trees native to most of Europe and parts of Asia, as well as northern Africa. The range extends from Madeira, the British Isles and Iceland to Russia and northern China. Unlike many plants with similar distributions, it is not native to Japan.
Sorbus is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of Sorbus (s.l.) are commonly known as whitebeam, rowan (mountain-ash) and service tree. The exact number of species is disputed depending on the circumscription of the genus, and also due to the number of apomictic microspecies, which some treat as distinct species, but others group in a smaller number of variable species. Recent treatments classify Sorbus in a narrower sense to include only the pinnate leaved species of subgenus Sorbus, raising several of the other subgenera to generic rank.
Sorbus domestica, with the common name service tree or sorb tree, is a species of Sorbus native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It may be called true service tree, to distinguish it from wild service tree Sorbus torminalis.
Sorbus torminalis, with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (Sorbus) of the rose family (Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and western Asia.
Sorbus chamaemespilus, the false medlar or dwarf whitebeam, is a species of Sorbus native to the mountains of central and southern Europe, from the Pyrenees east through the Alps to the Carpathians and the Balkans, growing at altitudes of up to 2500 m.
Karpatiosorbus latifolia is a species of whitebeam that is endemic to the area around Fontainebleau, south of Paris in France, where it has been known since the early eighteenth century.
Acer japonicum, Fullmoon Maple, Downy Japanese-Maple, is a species of maple native to Japan, on Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, and also southern Korea.
Acer cissifolium is a maple native to Japan, from southern Hokkaidō south through Honshū and Shikoku to Kyūshū.
Sorbus cashmiriana, the Kashmir rowan, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, native to the western Himalayas, including Kashmir.
Cephalotaxus fortunei, commonly called the Chinese plum-yew, Fortune's yew plum, simply plum yew, Chinese cowtail pine or in Chinese as san jian shan, is a coniferous shrub or small tree in the family Taxaceae. It is native to northern Burma and China, but is sometimes grown in western gardens where it has been in cultivation since 1848.
Idesia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, comprising the single species Idesia polycarpa. It is native to eastern Asia in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
Sorbus commixta, the Japanese rowan, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, native to Japan, Sakhalin, and the Korean island of Ulleungdo.
Sorbus oligodonta, the kite-leaf rowan, is a species of rowan native to northern Yunnan, southeastern Tibet, and western Sichuan in China as well as to Myanmar.
Scandosorbus intermedia, the Swedish whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam found in southern Sweden, with scattered occurrences in Estonia, Latvia, easternmost Denmark (Bornholm), the far southwest of Finland, and northern Poland.
Sorbus × hybrida, the oakleaf mountain ash, Swedish service-tree or Finnish whitebeam, is a hybrid species of whitebeam native to Norway, eastern Sweden, southwestern Finland, and locally in Latvia.
Alniaria alnifolia, also called alder-leafed whitebeam, Korean whitebeam, or Korean mountain ash, Chinese: 水榆花楸; pinyin: shui yu hua qiu; lit. 'water elm rowan', is a species of whitebeam native to eastern Asia in eastern and northern China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
Sorbus mougeotii, the Vosges whitebeam or Mougeot's whitebeam, is a species of whitebeam native to the mountains of central and western Europe from the Pyrenees east through the Alps to Austria, and north to the Vosges Mountains.
Sorbus hupehensis is a species of rowan native to central and western China.
Sorbus sargentiana, Sargent's rowan is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, native to southwestern Sichuan and northern Yunnan in China, where it grows at altitudes of 2,000–3,200 m (6,560–10,500 ft).
