Wood of Sorbus americana

Sorbus americana, American Mountain Ash, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the rose family native to northeastern North America from Newfoundland to Georgia. The wood of American Mountain Ash is light, soft, weak, and close-grained. The heartwood is pale brown. The wood is very tough and was much sought after for making singletrees and whippletrees (double tree) in the horse-drawn era, also for canoe frames since it bends well and is extremely tough and pliable. The tree typically grows to 15 to 30 feet tall and wide with an open rounded attractive crown. The bark is smooth grey with numerous lenticels. The 6-10 inch compound leaves have 9-17 dark yellow-green, 2-4 inch leaflets with unequal wedge-shaped or rounded bases and serrated margins. The foliage turns yellow in the fall.