Sorbus domestica of "serve", from Old English "syrfe", borrowed from the Latin name "sorbus"; it is unrelated to the verb "serve". Other English names include sorb, sorb tree, and whitty pear—"whitty" because the leaves are similar to rowan (i.e. pinnate), and "pear" due to the nature of the fruit. 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
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