Common Name:
MOUNTAIN-ASH
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Coefficient of Conservatism:
4
Coefficient of Wetness:
3
Wetness Index:
FACU
Physiognomy:
Nt Tree
R. Schipper
Forested dunes and bluffs, especially frequent at edges of forests along Lake Superior; deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forests, often with fir, cedar, and pine, but sometimes in beech-maple stands; seems to thrive particularly well along shores, perhaps because of the moister climate and perhaps because released from competition of larger trees in the forest.
A few unusually pubescent flowering specimens closely resemble S. aucuparia. There is a subtle distinction usually evident in the tips of the leaflets, where the terminal tooth is prolonged in S. decora (as in S. americana), whereas in S. aucuparia it is no more conspicuous than the lateral teeth (which are frequently partly doubly serrate). Sorbus decora varies considerably in overall shape of the apex of the leaflet and in pubescence. The dried fruit in herbarium specimens is often strikingly blue-glaucous. This is our commonest species of Sorbus, a handsome small tree when in flower (or fruit).