mountain ashes

Noun

mountain ash (usually uncountable, plural mountain ashes)

1. (UK, usually) A European tree, rowan or, more specifically, European rowan, of species Sorbus aucuparia.
   • On the verdant slope and down by the edge of the water, the bird-cherry and the mountain ash displayed their flowery garb of summer.1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 280
2. (usually) Any of several trees in the genus Sorbus in North America.
   • All three mountain-ashes are shrubs of climax and subclimax northern coniferous forest communities, along with speckled alder, Labrador tea, mountain and red maples, yellow birch, and bunchberry.1974, William M. Healy, Shrubs and Vines for Northeastern Wildlife, numbers 6-10, page 99
3. (usually) A tree native to southeastern Australia, Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest of all flowering plants.
   • McCarthy and Lindenmayer (1998) developed a model of the development of multi-aged Mountain Ash forest in response to fire. The model predicted the prevalence of multi-aged Mountain Ash forest as a function of the mean fire interval.2002, Brendan Mackey, David Lindenmayer, Malcolm Gill, Michael McCarthy, Janette Lindesay, editors, Wildlife, Fire and Future Climate: A Forest Ecosystem Analysis, page 42

   Synonyms:

   stringy gum, swamp gum, Tasmanian oak, Victorian ash

4. (usually) A Texan ash tree of species Fraxinus texensis.

   Synonyms:

   Texas ash

See all 6 meanings of mountain ash