Rowan berries, but a true berry is a simple fruit produced from a single ovary, whereas a pome is an accessory fruit. Rowan is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species; see Lepidoptera that feed on "Sorbus". The best-known species is the European rowan "Sorbus aucuparia", a small tree typically 4–12 m tall growing in a variety of habitats throughout northern Europe and in mountains in southern Europe and southwest Asia. Its berries are a favourite food for many birds and are a traditional wild-collected food in Britain and Scandinavia. It is one of the hardiest
Sorbus torminalis the bark on old trees. The species has sometimes been placed in its own genus, "Torminalis". Recent molecular phylogenetics confirms an earlier taxonomic opinion that the genus "Sorbus" as defined in the broad sense is not monophyletic, but the simple-leafed species traditionally included in "Sorbus" are a monophyletic group; this species would be included in a clade called "Aria" (genus "Aria" or "Sorbus" subgenus "Aria") as the species "Aria torminalis" Beck. It is a sexually reproducing diploid species that forms diploid and polyploid hybrids with members of subgenus "Aria" (whitebeams). A number of often very localised stable apomictic polyploid species