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Mountain Ash is one of the high-mountain highlights of the fall season, found only near the tips of our southern Appalachian balds and heathtops. As I found with the above, and the picture does not do it justice, there is nothing like the sight of a blazing gold Mountain Ash festooned with  bright red-orange berries - set against a mid-October Carolina blue sky. Mountain Ash is not truly an Ash tree. It is, believe it or not, a member of the Rose family! The true Ashes are members of an entirely different bunch, the Oleaceae. No matter what family they belong to, our own Mountain Ashes are truly distinctive and easily identified. In fall, look for shortish trees (20-40 feet high) with pinnately-divided leaves that remind you of Sumac - and enormous bunches of bright red-orange berries. Early in the season the berries turn red while the leaves are still green - which is impressive enough. But round about now, in mid to late October, the leaves turn to burnished gold, while the berries hang on, waiting to feed the birds of winter. Look for Mountain Ash near the Craggies/Mount Mitchell, or Mt. Pisgah , or the Balsam Range. The tree pictured above (and it's 30-40  feet tall) is located just barely off the entrance road up to the Craggy Gardens Picnic Area, easily viewed by anyone with a few minutes of patience to stop for a look.