Quoddy Nature Notes

Mountain Ash

 Mountain ash is a small tree that we have here in the Quoddy region that is pretty inconspicuous for most of the year, except for times like now, when it is showing off its big clusters of white blossoms.  We have two native species in Maine; the Mountain ash which is locally common  and the Showy or Northern Mountain ash which is more prevalent to the north and west of us.  Not only do they hybridize whenever the occasion arises but the sneaky little dickens have lots of other secrets that they try and hide.  For one thing they don’t belong to the ash family at all, but are members of the rose family.  The genus is also erratic.  For years the scientific name of Mountain ash was Sorbus Americana , and Showy Mountain ash was Sorbus decora, but then some reference books started listing these as Pyrus Americana and P. decora.  Now it’s a mixture, and the botanists (or authors) agree to disagree and apparently have tentatively settled on the genus as Pyrus and the subgenus as Sorbus.  Also we can toss in the European Mountain ash (P. or S. aucuparia) which was brought over by the European colonists in the early 1800’s, and this may hybridize with our native trees.  Why would colonists bring a tree over here?  There may be several reasons.  European mountain ash is also the ‘Rowan tree’, associated with witches and sacred ceremonies like exorcising the latest demon, and was often planted in churchyards in the British Isles.  Early herbalists thought a concoction of the bark would be anti- malarial because of its resemblance to Quinine. Another clue as to why the early arrivers might have brought European Mountain ash is that the species name, aucuparia, is Latin for ‘to catch birds’.  Europeans used their Mountain ash to make a sticky, viscous glop that they would smear on branches where small birds would tend to roost and the fowlers would capture them for market.  This unfortunate method of harvest, known as ‘Bird Liming’, is still being practiced in some rural parts of Italy and Spain, where small birds are considered a culinary delicacy.  Audubon himself used bird liming to collect small birds for examination and models for his paintings.  He thought the Goldfinch and Purple finch to be the smartest of birds in this respect.  All other birds would panic and struggle vigorously until they were quickly exhausted and could be captured.  Audubon wrote that the finch, instead of struggling, would close up its wings tightly and calmly fall backwards and wait, and the sticky goo would slowly stretch out until the strands were too weak to hold the bird and it would escape.

                A couple of months from now our Mountain ash will display their other phase of landscape decoration as clusters of bright red berries will replace the present white flowers.  The berries look good enough to eat, and many references say they are, but don’t believe it.  I have tried Mountain ash berries many times and under many circumstances, but my hopes for a neat trailside snack have always been dashed by their wretched taste.  Maybe if one cooks them and mixes in enough honey… However, even if I don’t like them I know that birds certainly like Mountain ash.  Grouse and Cedar Waxwings will gorge themselves so heavily that they may be temporarily unable to fly and Robins may even forgo their migrations and go on a three month bender on fermented Mountain ash berries.  “Why not, guys?,” I call out,” Life can be tough up here . Enjoy yourselves, but be careful!”  I think of another bird that used to love Mountain ash berries, the Passenger pigeon.  I think of the millions and millions that used to fly through here in the fall.  I look at the maps and all of the ‘pigeon’ hills we have here in Washington County, where the Passenger pigeons used to roost and gorge themselves on Mountain ash berries.

                “Be careful”,  I call out to no special bird or any other critter in particular, “Be careful.”