ROWAN TREE: In our recent columns about determining which tree
best suits your personality, we seemed to have “lost” one tree
somehow – an interesting one at that.

The rowan tree somehow got misplaced in all our computer cutting
and pasting, and several readers were quick to wonder why.

Today, that explanation and also a little bit about this
tree.

You who were identified as a “rowan” (sensitivity) are full of
charm, cheerful, gifted without egotism, likes to draw attention,
loves life, motion, unrest and even complications, is both
dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate,
emotional, good company, does not forget.

Our list of what we called “horto-scopes” was provided by our
friends at Elk State Forest. In case you missed it, the list
matched people with a certain tree depending on their date of birth
– not unlike the familiar astrological signs.

If you’ve never heard of a “rowan” tree, don’t feel alone. We
never had either so we turned to Wikipedia for all the details and
found a very unusual deciduous tree which would probably be at home
in a Harry Potter movie.

Rowans are a small deciduous tree – only a bit larger than a
shrub – and resemble the American mountain ash, showy mountain ash
in the east, sitka mountain ash in the west. However, it is not in
the ash family but is more closely related to the apples and
hawthorns in the rose family. Its flowers are creamy white, and the
fruit usually a small orange or red pome.

The interesting part, though, is the European rowan’s place in
mythology and folklore.

The rowan was thought to be a magical tree which protected
against malevolent beings. The density of the wood made it useable
for magician staves, and its branches for dowsing rods and magic
wands.

The rowan tree was carried on vessels to avoid storms, kept in
houses to guard against lightning, and even planted on graves to
keep the deceased from haunting. It was also used to protect one
from witches – quite a handy thing to have around!

Fresh rowan berry juice is useable as a laxative, gargle for
sore throats, inflamed tonsils, hoarseness and a source of vitamins
A and C. Rowan is also used for eye irritations, spastic pains in
the uterus, heart-bladder problems, neuralgia, gout and waist
constrictions.

Pretty cool, we must admit!