Rowan

Long before it graced cottage gardens, rowan stood sentinel at doorways and crossroads across Britain and Scandinavia, planted for protection and woven into folklore as a guardian tree. Its tart, glossy berries were gathered each autumn by generations of northern European foragers and cooked into jellies, syrups, and wines that carried families through the lean, cold months. Folk healers traditionally turned to rowan berry preparations to soothe sore, scratchy throats and to fortify the body against the first chills of winter, valuing the fruit as a bright, sharp dose of vitamin C when fresh greens were scarce. Even the pale spring blossoms and silvery bark found their way into old herbals, though it is the berry that has always been rowan's true gift.