Showy Mountain-Ash
Dogberry
Sorbus decora (Sarg.) C.K. Schneid.
Sorbier décoratif
Leaves: 13-17 leaflets on a central stalk about 20 cm long.
Leaflets are narrowly elliptic, 3-8 cm long, scarcely tapered, red, and blunt-pointed. Lance shaped.
Leaves horizontally positioned (American mountain-ash leaves are on edge, arching).
Finely toothed from the tip to the middle or just below it.
Firm, upper surface is blue-green, paler beneath, slightly hairy when young.
Buds: Terminal bud is narrowly cone-shaped, 10-14 mm long, sharp-tipped, often with a curve.
Shiny, dark reddish-brown, sticky.
Outer scales are hairless, inner scales are hairy.
Twigs: Reddish-brown to grayish, with a skin that weathers off, hairless.
Flowers: Petals are round, 4-5 mm long appearing in May and June, a week or so later than American mountain-ash.
On short, stout, hairy stalks, in dense, many-flowered, open clusters.
Fruits: Shiny, red, 8-10 mm across. In many-fruited, rounded clusters. Mature in August and September; flesh is thick.
Bark: Smooth, thin, light grayish-green to golden brown. Becomes slightly scaly with age.
Size and Form: Small trees, up to 15 m high and 25 cm in diameter.
Trunk is straight and branch-free.
Crown is short and rounded.
Habitat: Typically found on rocky shores of rivers and lakes.
Notes: Showy mountain-ash and American mountain-ash are absent from southwestern Ontario, even though present farther south, east, and west.