Description

Leaves: Dark green, shiny, and hairless above; fall color brilliant orange-red; pale green beneath; leaves pinnately compound; 9-15 leaflets per leaf, 1" to 2-1/2" in length, oblong to lance-shaped, sharp-pointed, wedge-shaped at the base; toothed almost to the base; deciduous.

Twigs/buds: Younger twigs olive-green and pubescent, but becoming red-brown with age; with prominent lenticels. Buds large and sticky.

Flowers/fruit: Flowers perfect; white, small; held in large, dense flat-topped cluster (inflorescence) with many flowers (at least 70); occur in early summer. Fruit a pome, orange to red, glossy; almost ball-shaped, 1/4" to 3/8" in diameter; fleshy; in clusters.

Bark: Shiny gray-green to brown-green, thin; many lenticels.

Wood: Little information available.

General: Native to cool, moist canyon sites in Utah; distributed from Alaska and California, east to South Dakota. Shrub or small, shrubby tree, up to 15' in height, often forming dense thickets; several-stemmed. Shade intolerant.

Landscape Use: Rarely planted, but could be more. Outstanding fall color and nice flowers; fruit is also ornamental. Smaller leaves than European mountain-ash (S. aucuparia). Zones 2-6.

Characteristics