Ontario's Tree Atlas: Showy Mountain-Ash (Sorbus decora)

Leaves
Photo by: Daniel Tigner,
Canadian Forest Tree Essences
Bark
Photo by: Daniel Tigner,
Canadian Forest Tree Essences
Flower
Photo by: Daniel Tigner,
Canadian Forest Tree Essences
Tree
Photo by: Daniel Tigner,
Canadian Forest Tree Essences

Did you know?
Birds love to eat berries from the showy mountain-ash, especially in the winter when other food is hard to find.

The showy mountain-ash is found across almost all of Ontario, except for the southwestern tip of the province.   It can get up to 10 metres tall.

 

Its blue-green leaves have 13 to 17 leaflets which are 3 to 8 centimetres long.

 

Clusters of small white flowers bloom on the tree between May and July.  In August and September, the showy mountain-ash is covered in bunches of shiny red berries that are 4 to 6 millimetres across, and often stay on the tree through the winter. 

 

Size:  Up to 15 metres tall
Moisture:  Can tolerate different moisture levels
Shade: Can tolerate some shade
Soil: Can grow in a variety of soils including rocky and poor soil

 

Where you can plant this tree in Ontario:

 

  • Addington Northern
  • Algoma Eastern
  • Algoma Southern
  • Bruce Northern
  • Dundas
  • Frontenac Northern
  • Glengarry
  • Grenville Central
  • Grenville Eastern
  • Haliburton Northern
  • Haliburton Southern
  • Haliburton Western
  • Hastings Central
  • Hastings Northern
  • Hastings Southern
  • Kawartha Lakes Northern
  • Lanark Eastern
  • Lanark Western
  • Leeds Central
  • Leeds Eastern
  • Lennox Northern
  • Manitoulin
  • Muskoka
  • Nipissing Eastern
  • Nipissing Northern
  • Nipissing Southern
  • Ottawa Eastern
  • Ottawa Southern
  • Ottawa Western
  • Oxford Northern
  • Parry Sound Central
  • Parry Sound Eastern
  • Parry Sound Northern
  • Peterborough Northern
  • Prescott
  • Renfrew Eastern
  • Renfrew Northern
  • Renfrew Southern
  • Russell
  • Stormont

Planting tip:  Showy mountain-ash is an adaptable tree that can grow in moist or rocky and poor soil. More tips...