Sorbus minima Sorbus minima Sorbus minima, commonly known as the lesser whitebeam or least whitebeam, is a shrub belonging to the subgenus "Aria" (whitebeams) in the genus "Sorbus". It is endemic to Wales where it grows at a few sites in Breconshire. It is an apomictic microspecies which reproduces asexually and so is reproductively isolated from its close relatives such as the Swedish whitebeam, "S. intermedia". It probably originated as a hybrid between the rock whitebeam ("S. rupicola") and the rowan ("S. aucuparia"). It was first discovered in 1893 by Augustin Ley, the vicar of Sellack in Herefordshire who travelled widely in
Sorbus not closely related to the true ash trees which belong to the genus "Fraxinus", although the leaves are superficially similar. As treated in its broad sense, the genus is divided into two main and three or four small subgenera (with more recent generic assignments in parentheses): "Sorbus" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some moth species—see list of Lepidoptera that feed on "Sorbus". "Sorbus domestica" is used to flavour some apple wines, see "Apfelwein. "Sorbus" species are cultivated as ornamental trees for parks and gardens, and have given rise to several cultivars. The following, of mixed