Sorbus aucuparia

We meet this friend almost everywhere in Finland, from rocky islets to stony ridges and right up into the Lapland Fells. The rowan or mountain ash grows further north than any other naturally growing member of the Sorbus genus. Finns have always valued it; it was regarded as sacred by their forefathers, and felling such a tree was believed to bring misfortune to the house. In a survey in the 1980s it was discovered that the species grows in every fourth garden in Finland.