Photo by Therese Phillips on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
BerryIn season now (October)
Rowan berries
Sorbus aucuparia
- When
- Typically August – October — August, September, October. Earlier in warm, low country; later in the hills.
- Where it grows
- Upland woods, moorland edges, rocky ground and city streets; up to the treeline in the Alps and far north in Norway.
- How to know it
- A slim tree with smooth silvery-grey bark and feathery leaves of many toothed leaflets in pairs; big flat clusters of scarlet-orange berries, each about 1 cm (⅜ in) across with a tiny black five-pointed star at the tip.
- Look-alikes
- Ash and elder also have feathery compound leaves, but neither carries big flat heads of orange berries — ash has winged seeds, and elder’s leaves are opposite with fewer leaflets. Cotoneaster, guelder rose and yew carry red fruit on simple leaves.
- Harvest and use
- Cooked, never raw by the handful: tart jelly (the classic with game and lamb), jam, syrup and chutney. Freezing, cooking or drying breaks down the bitterness.
- Caution
- Raw berries contain parasorbic acid, which irritates the stomach and acts as a laxative — always cook them.
Rowan berries at a glance
- Also called
- Mountain ash, European mountain ash, quickbeam; pihlaja (Finland), Vogelbeere or Eberesche (Germany)
- Family
- Rosaceae (rose family)
- Where it grows
- Almost all of Europe, from Madeira, the British Isles and Iceland east to Russia — though not native in southern Spain, southern Greece, Sardinia, the Balearics, the Azores or the Faroes. Most common in Britain in the north and west and the Scottish Highlands; up to about 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in the Alps and as far north as 71°N in Norway.
- When to pick
- Berries colour in August and ripen into October. They are traditionally cut by the whole cluster after the first frost; a night in the freezer does the same job.
- Parts used
- The berries, cooked. Raw ones are bitter; the seeds contain a glycoside and are best strained out of jelly.
- Is any of it poisonous?
- Raw berries contain parasorbic acid, which irritates the stomach lining and is laxative. Cooking, freezing or drying breaks it down.
Questions people ask about rowan berries
Are rowan berries poisonous?
Not once cooked. Raw they are bitter, astringent and laxative, because of parasorbic acid; cooking, drying or freezing breaks it down. They are rich in vitamin C.
When do you pick rowan berries?
From late August to October, when they are fully scarlet-orange — ideally after the first frost, or freeze them overnight at home.
What do you make with rowan berries?
Tart rowan jelly, the classic with lamb and game; also jam, syrup, chutney, wine and liqueurs. They are often mixed with crab apples for jelly.
Is rowan the same as mountain ash?
Yes — mountain ash is another name for rowan. Despite the name it is not related to true ash trees (Fraxinus); it is in the rose family.
Are rowan berries dangerous for children?
Raw rowan berries are not seriously poisonous, but they are bitter, irritate the stomach and act as a laxative, so teach children that the street-tree berries are for jelly, not snacking. Yew and cotoneaster in the same parks also have red fruit, and yew’s seed is deadly.
Found in these regions
- Nordic & Baltic Boreal
- Atlantic Europe
- Continental Europe
- Alps, Pyrenees & Carpathians
- Pannonian Basin & Eastern Plains
Hardiness zones 3–7.
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Also ready in October
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Castanea sativa
A big tree with long, glossy leaves edged with sharp, regular teeth, and bark that twists in spiralling ridges on old trunks. The nuts come in twos and threes inside a husk covered in dense, needle-sharp spines; each is glossy brown, flat on one side, with a pointed tuft at the tip.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: John Powers · CC BY 4.0
BerryAugust – OctoberSea buckthorn
Hippophae rhamnoides
A thorny shrub with narrow, silvery-grey, willow-like leaves and branches packed with bright orange berries 6–8 mm (¼ in) across, from late summer into winter. Only female bushes fruit.
How to know it & its look-alikes →
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Prunus spinosa
A dense, very thorny shrub with dark bark and white blossom on bare black twigs in early spring, before the leaves. In autumn, round blue-black fruits about 1 cm (⅜ in) across with a waxy blue bloom, each holding one stone.
How to know it & its look-alikes →
Checked against these sources ·
Seasons are typical for the middle of the range and move by weeks north and south, and up and down hills.
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.