Rowan tree n. (Bot.) A european tree (Pyrus aucuparia) related to the apple, but with pinnate leaves and flat corymbs of small white flowers followed by little bright red berries. Called also roan tree, and mountain ash. The name is also applied to two American trees of similar habit (Pyrus Americana, and Pyrus sambucifolia).
... Hugh received a wound which proved mortal. Before he died he confided the secret of the buried treasure to his younger brother, Archie, and would fain have directed him to its hiding-place, but when he had uttered the words "under the Rowan tree in" ——, his spirit departed, and the sentence was left ... — Tom, The Bootblack - or, The Road to Success • Horatio Alger