Showy mountain-ash

Leaves

Form

• 13–17 leaflets
• Narrowly elliptic
• Scarcely tapered
• Blunt-pointed, firm
• Slightly hairy when young

Length

• Leaflets 3–8 cm
• Leaf and central stalk about 20 cm

Colour

• Upper surface blue-green
• Lower surface paler

Margin

• Finely toothed from the tip to the middle or just below

Buds

Form

• Terminal bud narrowly cone-shaped
• Sharp-tipped often with a curve
• Shiny, sticky
• Outer scales hairless
• Inner scales hairy

Length

• 10–14 mm

Colour

• Dark reddish-brown

Twigs

Form

• Skin that weathers off
• Hairless

Colour

• Reddish-brown to greyish

Flowers

Form

• Petals round
• Flowers on short, stout, hairy stalks
• In dense, many-flowered, open clusters (corymbs)

Length

• Petals 4–5 mm

Structure

• Synoecious

Floral timing

• May and June
• A week or so later than American mountain-ash

Fruits

Form

• Shiny
• In many-fruited, rounded clusters
• Flesh thick

Width

• 8–10 mm

Colour

• Red

Structure

• Pome

Timing

• Fruits mature in August and September

Bark

Form

• Smooth, thin, with age becoming slightly scaly

Colour

• Light greyish-green to golden-brown

Size

Height

• To 15 m

Diameter

• To 25 cm

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Straight, branch-free

Crown

• Short, rounded

Habitat

Site

• Rocky shores of rivers and lakes