Rowan some countries, but "Sorbus domestica", for example, has largely vanished from Britain, where it was traditionally appreciated. Natural hybrids, often including "Sorbus aucuparia" and the whitebeam, "Sorbus aria", give rise to many endemic variants in the UK. The traditional names of the rowan are those applied to the species "Sorbus aucuparia", "Sorbus torminalis" (wild service-tree), and "Sorbus domestica" (true service-tree). The Latin name "sorbus" was borrowed into Old English as "syrfe". The name "service-tree" for "Sorbus domestica" is derived from that name by folk etymology. The Latin name "sorbus" is from a root for "red, reddish-brown" (PIE "*sor-/*ser-"); English "sorb"
Forests of the Iberian Peninsula form small enclaves or copses at the foot of rocky cliff edges or in the clearings of beech forests, on poor or acidic soils, accompanied by aspen ("Populus tremula") and mountain ash ("Sorbus aucuparia"). Birch may also grow in pure stands near the beech forests, in the mountainous areas on siliceous bedrock; these areas are typically of only small extent and generally quite patchy with sessile oak ("Quercus petraea") and trees of the genus "Sorbus". The silver fir ("Abies alba") is found on the cool, deep-soiled slopes of the flanks of the Pyrenees, from Navarre to Montseny, forming pure fir