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 domestica Sorbus domestica Sorbus domestica, with the common name service tree or sorb tree (because of its fruit), is a species of "Sorbus" native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa (Atlas Mountains), and southwest Asia (east to the Caucasus). It may be called true service tree, to distinguish it from wild service tree "Sorbus torminalis". It is a deciduous tree growing to 15–20 m (rarely to 30 m) tall with a trunk up to 1 m diameter, though it can also be a shrub 2–3 m tall on exposed sites. The bark is brown, smooth on young trees, becoming