Sorbus sitchensis

Western mountain ash

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Western mountain ash is a native shrub found in montane and subalpine forest habitats at elevations typically between 1,000 to 2,500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces clusters of small white flowers with delicate ovate to diamond-shaped petals approximately 3 to 5 millimeters long. Growing 1 to 4 meters tall with reddish-brown stem buds that are glaucous and covered in evenly distributed hairs, it develops a distinctive branching structure. Its compound leaves have 7 to 13 leaflets, each 2 to 6 centimeters long and ovate to oblong in shape, with dull green surfaces and reddish-brown axillary hairs. The fruit is a bright red, glaucous berry 7 to 13 millimeters long, adding visual interest to the shrub in late summer.

California counties: El Dorado, Plumas, Tulare, Fresno, Tuolumne, Siskiyou, Modoc, Lassen, Alpine, Mono, Alameda, Mariposa, Madera

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.