Sorbus decora(Sarg.) C.K.Schneid.

northern mountain ash

WFO wfo-0001015088 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Sorbus decora, photographed by Reuven Martin
fig. a Reuven Martin, CC0 1.0 / 2021-06-22 / obs. 138252645
Sorbus decora, photographed by Lauren Chronister
fig. b Lauren Chronister, CC0 1.0 / obs. 133441659
Sorbus decora, photographed by Rose Zappa
fig. c Rose Zappa, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91019795
Sorbus decora, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. d Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / obs. 53528727
Sorbus decora, photographed by Tyler Smith
fig. e Tyler Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 53130821
Sorbus decora, photographed by Tyler Smith
fig. f Tyler Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 52903449
Sorbus decora, photographed by Allan Harris
fig. g Allan Harris, CC0 1.0 / obs. 52028881
Sorbus decora, photographed by Quinten Wiegersma
fig. h Quinten Wiegersma, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 49728879

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 25 botanical countries

Regions where Sorbus decora is native: Connecticut, Greenland, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New York, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward I., Québec, Saskatchewan, Vermont, Wisconsin ConnecticutGreenlandIllinoisIndianaIowaLabradorMaineManitobaMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew YorkNewfoundlandNova ScotiaNunavutOhioOntarioPennsylvaniaPrince Edward I.QuébecSaskatchewanVermontWisconsin
Native distribution of Sorbus decora, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Connecticut CNT NORTHERN AMERICA
Greenland GNL
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Massachusetts MAS
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ohio OHI
Ontario ONT
Pennsylvania PEN
Prince Edward I. PEI
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
Vermont VER
Wisconsin WIS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 21 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aucuparia subvestita (Greene) Nieuwl.
  • Pyrus americana var. decora Sarg.
  • Pyrus decora (Sarg.) Hyland
  • Pyrus decora var. groenlandica (C.K.Schneid.) Fernald
  • Pyrus dumosa (Greene) Fernald
  • Pyrus groenlandica (C.K.Schneid.) K.R.Robertson
  • Pyrus sambucifolia S.Watson & J.M.Coult.
  • Pyrus sitchensis B.L.Rob. & Fernald
  • Pyrus subvestita (Greene) Farw.
  • Sorbus americana Pursh
  • Sorbus americana var. decora (Sarg.) Sarg.
  • Sorbus americana var. groenlandica C.K.Schneid.
  • Sorbus americana var. sitchensis (M.Roem.) Sudw.
  • Sorbus decora var. decora
  • Sorbus decora var. groenlandica (C.K.Schneid.) G.N.Jones
  • Sorbus dumosa House
  • Sorbus groenlandica (C.K.Schneid.) Á.Löve & D.Löve
  • Sorbus sambucifolia Dippel
  • Sorbus scopulina Hough
  • Sorbus subvestita Rosend. & Butters
  • Sorbus subvestita Greene

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.