Among the plant fronds, mountain ash is perhaps one of the most ancient and revered trees in Russia. And in the berries, the healing power, and the bees love it, and feeds the birds in winter, and its wood is beautiful, and it is incredibly good by itself. Rowan tree, planted under the window of the house, serves as a talisman of happiness and prosperity in the family. And until now, many believe that a damaged or ruined tree is a bad omen, and they treat the mountain ash in the garden as a "coveted little child."
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There is hardly a person who has never once admired a mountain ash - a snow-white crown during flowering or snow-covered bright red clusters. One of the signs of autumn is a lot of birds pecking berries from branches that have already dropped leaves. And in the summer there is a time when the dewy mountain ash smells in the air with light dewy evenings, and the horizon is colored with flashes of lightning - these are mountain ash nights.
As a rule, when it comes to mountain ash, we call its fruits berries, but this is not true. Strictly scientific language, the type of fruit is "apple". Indeed, looking at a bunch of mountain ash, you can see many tiny apples, similar to quince, apple or pear.
The woody plant of the rowan genus belongs to the family Pink tribe Apple and has the international designation in Latin Sorbus. Depending on the location in which this short tree grows, I call it in my own way - yarabina, yarembina, mountain ash, humpback, ofina, oscar.
There are about 100 varieties of mountain ash, the habitat of which is very extensive - from Iceland to North Africa, from Indonesia to the Kuril Islands. Given the fact that breeders are creating new plant hybrids, in the Plant List you can find information about 200 varieties of mountain ash.
Varieties and types
Many of the modern cultivars of mountain ash owe their appearance to red or ordinary mountain ash. This is a ubiquitous tree, the wild of which is a mountain ash. Of the hundreds of known varieties of mountain ash, more than a third are domestic.
The breeding of a number of cultivated varieties of mountain ash belongs to the famous Russian geneticist-doctor of biology I.V.Michurin.
One of the Michurin works, which is a form of red mountain ash, is called Russian or liquor. The slightly astringent sweet taste and dark purple color of the berries resembles a chokeberry, since chokeberry aronia is the progenitor of mountain ash. The plant is high-yielding. The name speaks for itself - it is used mainly for the preparation of liquor wines, tinctures, preserves.
The hybrid form of liquor rowan and medlar German - Michurinskaya dessert. The dark red fruits of a small size resemble both medlar and rosehip at the same time.
On a medium-sized tree (not more than 4 meters high), which is distinguished by a strongly sparse crown, burgundy fruits the size of a cherry ripen. This is pomegranate mountain ash. She appeared in 1925 as a result of crossing with large-fruited hawthorn.
In 1916, a tall frost-resistant mountain ash of the Titan variety was obtained by pollination with a red-leafed apple tree. The faceted red fruits are incredibly juicy and sweet and sour in taste, like most early Michurin varieties. A powerful tree with a thick pyramidal crown can reach 12 meters.
The Ruby variety is the result of pollination of rowan seedling and several pear varieties. The fruits are faceted, dark red, slightly tart in taste. If they are worn, then you can use instead of raisins.
The large Scarlet variety, bred at the Central Laboratory of Plant Genetics, has mainly table and technical purposes. In the original taste of the fruit, bitterness is not felt at all, but they are slightly more acidic than other varieties.
The plant of the varietal species Burka was named so because of oblong fruits that have a characteristic red-brown color. The tree remains beautiful throughout the season. The burka is the result of crossing two species of mountain ash - red and alpine.
The variety Sorbinka has red and large fruits, it is good to eat them fresh. This mountain ash is resistant to frost and has a good yield.
Most of the modern cultivars of mountain ash were bred on the basis of its two natural varieties — the Moravian and Nevezinsk. These varieties of mountain ash have the second name "sweet" and, due to their sweetness, are of interest to breeders. They were found in different parts of Europe and named after the name of the area in which they grew under natural conditions.
The Moravian form of mountain ash was discovered at the end of the 19th century in the Czech Republic. In the Sudeten Mountains, a beautiful tree grew with fruits of incredible juiciness and a rare red-scarlet color.
Forest mountain ash, which grew in the Vladimir region near the village of Nevezhino, fell in love with local residents. Even the unripe fruits were completely without bitterness and astringency. The sweetness of Nevezhinsky is 9%. This variety is famous for the fact that famous Russian winemakers Shustov and Smirnov made drinks on its fruits. Either for harmony, or wanting to hide the secret of the recipe, one of them dropped the syllable from the name. And after tincture, mountain ash was also called Nezhinskaya.
One of the first varieties of nasty rowan derived from Nevezhinsky is Businka. The fruits have a touch of cranberry flavor, but there is no acid characteristic of cranberries. The appearance of this variety dates back to the 70s of the 20th century.
Elderberry mountain ash grows in natural conditions in the Far East. This simple but effective shrub is absolutely not picky about the soil, resistant to harsh climatic conditions. In addition to the fact that the fruits do not have bitterness, they have a very pleasant smell.
The oldest cultivar of mountain ash is considered to be round-leaved aria. She was born in 1880. Sweet and sour powdery pulp is not as tasty as that of sweet-fruit varieties, but this does not make it less useful. Garden forms of round-leaved mountain ash: Manifik, Dekaysne, Edible Chrysophyllum. And there is a unique tree that does not form berries at all. The view is called Majestic.
Of the 34 species of domestic mountain ash, 7 belong to the southern regions of the country. In the Caucasus and Crimea, the most common are mountain ash: Greek, domestic, large-fruited (Crimean), glogovina, false broad-leaved.
Another name for the glogovina is curative medicinal. Translated from Latin - "healing abdominal pain." In ancient times it was called the "satin tree". Bereka has a glossy wood with a slightly reddish core and a white undercoat, white with a light green tint. In strength, this tree is comparable to oak, and is valued on a par with boxwood. Wood perceives polishing and inlay well. Furniture made of bereka and wind musical instruments (flutes, clarinets, etc.) are appreciated.
Rowan home or large-fruited (Crimean) is distinguished by large pear-shaped or apple-shaped green fruits. The weight of one berry is about 20 cm, diameter more than 3 mm - they are the size of a plum. Sugar content of powdery, fragrant, slightly astringent pulp 14%. The tree is tall, almost 15 m tall, although it grows very slowly. Such a plant is resistant to pests, drought and frost.
More common and familiar are the trees of red and aronia. But thanks to the efforts of breeders, interesting varieties with fruits of a different color have been bred.
The variety of mountain ash Yellow yields such abundant crops that, under the weight of the fruits, its branches bend to the ground. From its fruits make original fillings for homemade pies, jam, kvass
Sweet-fruited mountain ash Bethes is a classic table and dessert variety. The apples have a peculiar yellow-pink color.
A pronounced orange color with a slight red blush in the berries of the mountain ash Sunny. They are very tasty. Especially useful fresh and grated with granulated sugar. Solar refers to stably fruiting varieties.
The daughter of Kubova is a relatively new varietal species, bred by spontaneous hybridization of the eponymous variety of the mountain ash of the Nevezhinskaya variety. Ripened fruits have a rich orange color. It was possible to achieve a successful combination of proportions in taste: pleasant, sour-sweet without a hint of bitterness or astringency. The variety gives record harvests - the collection from one tree reaches 90 kg.
Mountain ash is littered with fruits in the fall, which, as they reach the ripening phase, change color from yellow to fiery orange. This is one of the most spectacular decorative varieties. The tree tolerates heat and lack of moisture.
The white-fruited mountain ash of the varieties Köhne and the White Swan are exceptionally decorative. Their fruits, due to bitterness, are not suitable for food. But despite this, miniature compact trees are no less interesting than traditional varieties of mountain ash.
How to preserve the healing properties of mountain ash
Not only fruits are useful in mountain ash, but also other parts of the plant - flowers, leaves and bark. When harvesting, it is important to remember that meeting the collection deadlines and the technology for preparing raw materials is a guarantee that all the benefits and healing properties of mountain ash will be preserved. Flowers and bark need to be harvested in May, leaves at the end of summer, in August. Fruit harvest depends on the variety. Harvest from sweet-fruited mountain ash is removed immediately after ripening (September-October) - otherwise the bird will get the berry. Mountain ash should be freed from leaves, cleaned of branches and stalks, sorted out. It can be stored fresh, frozen, dried in air, dried. Bitter varieties are left on the branches until the onset of the first frost. After the frost takes the bitterness out of the fruit, the mountain ash is removed along with the stalks and left in the hands.
Basic storage rules are easy and simple:
- If you place fresh berries in a tray, put them in a cool room with a temperature of about 2 - 3 degrees, it may well be stored for up to six months, only the sag will harden and darken.
- Rowanberry is dried in an oven or in a drying chamber at a temperature of 60 to 80 degrees. To determine how well dried fruits can be, squeezing several berries with your hand - they should not give juice and stick together.
- Rowan collected in hands can be stored in winter by hanging under the roof. Or freeze, not freeing the stalks.