The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Rowan

Scientific Names

Rowan

  • Sorbus aucuparia L.
  • Rose family

Common Names

  • European mountain ash
  • Mountain ash
  • Sorb apple

Back to Top

Parts Usually Used

Fruit
Back to Top

Rowan

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Rowan is a deciduous tree or shrub; reaches a height of 50 feet, the stem has close and smooth gray bark. The leaves are alternate and odd-pinnate, with 9-15 oblong-lanceolate, serrate leaflets which are usually finely hairy underneath. Numerous small white flowers appear in compound, terminal, shaggy corymbs during May and June, developing eventually into a berry-like, pea-sized, red pome which ripens in the fall.

Another variety: American mountain ash (S. americana) can also be used in the same way. This shrub or tree grows to 30 feet high and is found from Newfoundland to North Carolina and Michigan.
Back to Top

Where Found

Grows wild in the deciduous forests and mountains of Europe and Asia. Often planted for ornament there and elsewhere.
Back to Top

Medicinal Properties

Aperient, astringent, diuretic
Back to Top

Legends, Myths and Stories

Used to flavor liqueurs and cordials.
Back to Top

Uses

The fresh juice of the fruit is mildly laxative and is useful to soothe inflamed mucous membranes; it makes a good gargle for hoarseness and sore throat. When made into a jam, the juice or fruit becomes astringent and useful for mild cases of diarrhea. One of the sugars contained in the fruit is sometimes given intravenously to reduce pressure in the eyeball in cases of glaucoma. Used also for piles, urinary difficulty, indigestion, gall bladder ailments, angina, coronary problems, blood purifier, appetite stimulant, scurvy, worms, boils, tonsillitis.
Back to Top

Formulas or Dosages

Juice: take 1 tsp. fresh juice at a time, as needed.

Cold extract: soak 1 tsp. dried fruit in 1 cup water for 10 hours. Take 1 cup per day.

Jam: cook fruit with half as much sugar as berries. Take 1 tbsp., 3 to 5 times per day for mild diarrhea.
Back to Top

Nutrient Content

Contains vitamin C
Back to Top

Bibliography

Buy It! American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973

Buy It! Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs, by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814)

Buy It! Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Buy It! The Herbalist Almanac, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994

Buy It! The Herb Book, by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.

Buy It! Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, Shambala Publications, Inc., Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973

Buy It! Indian Uses of Native Plants, by Edith Van Allen Murphey, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1958, print 1990

Buy It! The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, by Dr. H.C.A. Vogel; Keats Publishing, Inc., 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991

Buy It! Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary, New World Dictionaries, 850 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114.

Back to Top

Share