Rowan

An in-depth social and natural history of the much-loved, highly symbolic rowan tree.

Whether crag-bound on a lonely moor or busy with birdlife on a city street, the rowan is a tree that captivates the senses and stimulates the imagination. Its delicate, feathery leaves, creamy spring blossom and scarlet clusters of autumn fruit have delighted artists, poets and plant enthusiasts through the ages. Rooted in ecology, Rowan is the first in-depth social history of this much-loved plant. Addressing topics from myth, medicine and folklore to Romanticism and cultural nationalism, and from the literature of revolutionary Russia to Land Art and contemporary rewilding, Oliver Southall uncovers the many meanings of the mountain ash: as a marker of regional identity and resistance to internal colonisation, as a potent symbol of political and personal nostalgia, and as a focus for environmental activism made ever-more pressing by climate change and biodiversity loss. Taking the reader on a surprising and eclectic journey, Rowan charts our changing relationships with nature and landscape, raising urgent questions of how we value and relate to the non-human world.