western mountain-ash (Greene's mountain ash)
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Medium to tall shrub, 1-5 m tall; stems several, erect to spreading, freely branched, reddish-brown to yellowish; winter buds and young growth sticky, somewhat white- or grey-hairy.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, pinnately compound; leaflets (7) 9 to 13, oblong-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 2-8 cm long, usually short-tapering to a sharp-pointed tip, smooth, finely saw-toothed almost to the base.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a flat-topped to somewhat rounded, branched cluster of numerous (70 to 200 or more) small flowers, the branches more or less white-hairy; corollas white to cream, the petals 5, oval, 4-6 mm long; calyces white-hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes triangular; ovaries inferior; stamens 15-20.
Fruits:
Berry-like pomes (like miniature apples), nearly globe-shaped, 7-10 mm long, orange to scarlet, not glaucous, 2- to 5-chambered; seeds 1 or 2 per chamber.
Notes:
Two varieties occur in BC:
1. Leaflets often 13; stipules usually shed before end of blooming; plants from E of Coast-Cascade Mountains................ var. scopulina
1. Leaflets rarely more than 11; stipules persistent until after blooming; plants from W slope of Cascade Mountains..................... var. cascadensis (G.N Jones) C.L. Hitchc.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1086 | 6 | 2750 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
21 | 0 | 230 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
188 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
3892 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), BG(1), BWBS(129), CMA(1), CWH(109), ESSF(1108), ICH(811), IDF(52), MH(31), MS(168), PP(3), SBPS(28), SBS(1225), SWB(6) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to moist glades, streambanks, forest edges and open forests in the montane and subalpine zones; frequent throughout BC, except rare W of Coast-Cascade Mountains; N to AK, E to AB and S to ND, WY, NM and N CA.Status Information
Taxonomic Keys
1. Plants becoming trees over 5 m tall; leaflets usually more than 13, winter buds covered with long soft-hairy grey hairs; styles 2 or 3...........................S. aucuparia
1. Plants shrubby, usually less than 5 m tall; leaflets rarely as many as 13, winter buds not covered with long soft grey hairs; styles 3 to 5. 2. Winter buds rusty-hairy; calyces smooth on outside; leaflets blunt or rounded at the tip, toothed for not more than 3/4 of their length; styles 4 or 5, fruit red, glaucous...............S. sitchensis 2. Winter buds sticky, sparsely white-hairy; calyces hairy on outside; leaflets sharp-pointed at tip, toothed for most of their length; styles 3 or 4; fruit orange, not glaucous................S. scopulina Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |