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"
Sorbus aucuparia to June (on occasion again in September) in many yellowish white corymbs that contain about 250 flowers. The corymbs are large, upright, and bulging. The flowers are between 8 and 10 mm in diameter and have five small, yellowish green, and triangular sepals that are covered in hairs or bare. The five round or oval petals are yellowish white and the flower has up to 25 stamens fused with the corolla to form a hypanthium and an ovary with two to five styles; the style is fused with the receptacle. Flowers of "S. aucuparia" have an unpleasant trimethylamine smell. Their