Among the plant fruits, mountain ash is perhaps one of the most ancient and revered trees in Russia. And in berries there is a healing power, and bees love it, and feed the birds in winter, and its wood is beautiful, and in itself it is unspeakably good. The rowan, planted under the window of the house, serves as a talisman of happiness and well-being 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 “welcome child”.
There is hardly a person who has never admired mountain ash - a snow-white crown during flowering or bright red bunches powdered with snow. One of the signs of autumn is a lot of birds pecking berries from branches that have already thrown off their leaves. And in summer there is a time when on light dewy evenings there is an almond smell of fading rowan in the air, and the horizon is painted with flashes of lightning - these are rowan nights.
As a rule, when it comes to mountain ash, we call its fruits berries, but this is not true. In strictly scientific terms, the type of fruit is "apple". Indeed, looking closely at the rowan bunch, you can see many tiny apples, similar to quince, apple or pear.
A woody plant of the Rowan genus belongs to the family Pink tribe Apple trees and has an international designation in Latin Sorbus. Depending on the area in which this low tree grows, I call it in my own way - yarabin, yarembina, hazel, gorobin, offin, oskorush.
There are about 100 varieties of mountain ash, the growing area of which is very extensive - from Iceland to North Africa, from Indonesia to the Kuriles. Given the fact that breeders are creating new plant hybrids, in the Plant List you can find information about 200 varieties of mountain ash.
Many of the modern rowan cultivars owe their appearance to the red or ordinary rowan. This is a ubiquitous tree, the wild of which is the mountain ash. Of the hundreds of known varietal 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 gardener-geneticist, Doctor of Biology IV Michurin.
One of Michurin's works, which is a form of common red mountain ash, is called Russian or liqueur. The slightly astringent sweetish taste and dark purple color of the berries resembles black chokeberry, since chokeberry is the progenitor of liqueur rowan. The plant is high-yielding. The name speaks for itself - it is used mostly for the preparation of liqueur wines, tinctures, and preserves.
A hybrid form of liqueur mountain ash and German medlar - Michurinskaya dessert. Small dark red fruits resemble medlar and rose hips at the same time.
On a medium-sized tree (no more than 4 meters high), with a very thin crown, burgundy fruits the size of a cherry ripen. This is the Pomegranate Mountain Ash. She appeared in 1925 as a result of crossing with a large-fruited hawthorn.
By the method of pollination with a red-leaved apple tree in 1916, a tall frost-resistant mountain ash of the Titan variety was obtained. Faceted red fruits are incredibly juicy and sour-sweet in taste, like most of the early Michurin varieties. A powerful tree with a dense pyramidal crown can reach 12 meters.
The Ruby variety is the result of pollination of a rowan seedling and several varieties of pears. The fruits are faceted, dark red, slightly tart in taste. If dried, they can be used instead of raisins.
The Alai large variety, bred in the Central Laboratory of Plant Genetics, has a predominantly table and technical purpose. There is no bitterness in the original taste of the fruits, but they are slightly sour than other varieties.
The plant varietal species Burka was named so because of the oblong fruits, which have a characteristic red-brown color. The tree remains beautiful throughout the season. Burka is the result of crossing two types of mountain ash - red and alpine.
The Sorbinka variety has red and large fruits, it is good to eat them fresh. This mountain ash is frost-resistant and has good yields.
Most modern rowan cultivars are bred on the basis of two of its natural varieties - Moravian and Nevezhin. These varieties of mountain ash have a 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 area in which they grew in natural conditions.
The Moravian form of the common mountain ash was discovered at the end of the 19th century in the Czech Republic. A beautiful tree with fruits of incredible juiciness and rare red-scarlet color grew in the Sudeten Mountains.
The forest mountain ash, which grew in the Vladimir region near the village of Nevezhino, fell in love with the local residents. Even unripe fruits were completely free of bitterness and astringency. The sweetness of Nevezhinskaya is 9%. This variety became famous for the fact that famous Russian winemakers Shustov and Smirnov made drinks on its fruits. Either for the sake of euphony, or wanting to hide the secret of the recipe, one of them dropped the syllable from the name. And after the tincture, the mountain ash was also called Nezhinskaya.
One of the first varieties of impatient mountain ash derived from Nevezhinskaya is Businka. The fruit has a hint of cranberry flavor, but lacks the characteristic acidity of cranberry. The appearance of this variety dates back to the 70s of the 20th century.
Elder-leaved mountain ash grows naturally in the Far East. This simple but effective shrub is absolutely not picky about the soil, it is also 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 rowan cultivar is the round-leaved aria. She was born in 1880. The sweet-sour mealy pulp is not as tasty as that of sweet-fruited varieties, but this does not make it less useful. Garden forms of round-leaved mountain ash: Manifik, Dekaisne, Edible Chrysophylla. And then there is a unique tree that does not form berries at all. The species 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, home, large-fruited (Crimean), glovina, pseudo-broadleaf.
Another name for glovina is medicinal bereka. Translated from Latin - "healing abdominal pain." In the old days it was called “satin tree”. Bereka has a glossy wood with a slightly reddish core and a white with a light green tint under the bark. In terms of strength, this tree is comparable to oak, and is valued on a par with boxwood. Wood takes polish and inlay well. Furniture and woodwind musical instruments (flutes, clarinets, etc.) made of birch wood are appreciated.
Rowan home or large-fruited (Crimean) is distinguished by large green pear-shaped or apple-shaped fruits. The weight of one berry is about 20 cm, diameter is more than 3 mm - they are the size of a plum. The sugar content of the mealy fragrant slightly astringent pulp is 14%. The tree is tall, almost 15 m in height, although it grows very slowly. Such a plant is resistant to pests, drought and frost.
The more common and familiar are the red and chokeberry trees. But through the efforts of breeders, interesting varieties with fruits of a different color have been bred.
The yellow rowan variety gives such bountiful harvests that, under the weight of the fruits, its branches bow down to the ground. Its fruits are used to make original fillings for homemade pies, jam, kvass
Sweet-fruited mountain ash Vefed is a classic table and dessert variety. Apples have a peculiar yellow-pink color.
A pronounced orange color with a slight red blush in the berries of Solnechnaya mountain ash. They are delicious. Especially useful fresh and ground with granulated sugar. Solnechnaya belongs to the stably fruiting varieties.
The daughter of Kubova is a relatively new varietal species, bred by spontaneous hybridization of the homonymous variety of the rowan variety Nevezhinskaya. Ripe 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 harvest from one tree reaches 90 kg.
Rowan Ogonyok is strewn with fruits in autumn, which, as the ripeness phase is reached, change color from yellow to fiery orange. This is one of the most spectacular decorative varieties. The tree firmly tolerates heat and lack of moisture.
White-fruited mountain ash varieties Köhne and White Swan are extremely decorative. Due to bitterness, their fruits are not suitable for food. But despite this, miniature compact trees are no less interesting than the traditional varieties 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 compliance with the collection time 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 must be harvested in May, leaves in late summer, in August. The collection of fruits depends on the variety. The harvest from sweet-fruited mountain ash is removed immediately after ripening (September-October) - otherwise the birds will get the berry. Rowan should be freed from leaves, cleaned of branches and stalks, and sorted out. Can be stored fresh, frozen, air-dried, dried. Bitter varieties are left on the branches until the first frost occurs. After the frost takes the bitterness from the fruit, the mountain ash is removed along with the stalks and left in the brushes.
The basic storage rules are light and simple:
- If you put fresh berries in a tray and 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 it will slightly wither and darken.
- Rowan is dried in an oven or drying chamber at a temperature of 60 to 80 degrees. You can determine how well the fruits are dried by squeezing a few berries with your hand - they should not give juice and stick to each other.
- Rowan, collected in brushes, can be stored in winter by hanging it under a roof. Or freeze without removing the stalks.
The nutritional value of mountain ash is characterized by the following indicators:
- The content of basic substances (in %% of the norm) in a 100 gram portion of berries: dietary fiber - 27%, carbohydrates - 6, 95%, proteins - 1, 71%, fats - 0, 31%, water - 3, 17%, calories - 3, 51%.
- The ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in berries is 1, 0: 0, 1: 6, 4.
- The energy value of the product is 50 kcal.
Rowan is a storehouse of vitamin C, depending on the variety, its content ranges from 90 to 200 mg, which is comparable to lemon. In addition to vitamins A, B2, PP, K, E and trace elements Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, there are organic acids, pectins, bitterness, tannins, glycosides, flavonoids, phytoncides.
