Tree Categories: Fall Color Trees, Flowering Trees, Ornamental Trees, and Shade Trees
Mature Tree Height: 20-40 feet tall | Mature Tree Width: 10-20 feet wide
Tree Growing Zones: Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, and Zone 7
The Cardinal Royal® Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia ‘Michred’) is a medium-sized flowering shade tree. It has an attractive, tidy form of upright branches and a symmetrical canopy in an oval shape. Its foliage is made up of dark green, compound leaves with 10-12 leaflets and silvery undersides. They turn a spectacular bright red and orange in the fall. In mid to late spring, white flowers emerge on the tops of branches in clusters, creating a pleasing contrast between the dark leaves and bright flowers. In early fall right before the leaves start to show off their fall color, red fruits emerge in clusters for a pretty display and attract species of birds.
The Cardinal Royal® Mountain Ash was developed and introduced by Michigan State University. It was selected for its symmetrical, uniform growth habit and clusters of bright red berries that are typically orange on the parent species. It is a great option as a showy shade tree in the yard for its flower bloom, dense shade-providing foliage, and great fall displays of red and orange leaves and small red fruits. It also will do great in city parks or larger courtyard areas due to its excellent tolerance of urban pollution. Does best in full sun and is adaptable to most soil types.
