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 mougeotii which differs only in slightly broader leaves. It is also closely related to "Sorbus intermedia" (Swedish whitebeam), which differs in having the leaves grey-white below and more deeply lobed, with the lobes spreading rather than forward-pointing, the fruit oval and less bright red, and in forming a stouter tree with a single trunk and more horizontal branching. All are tetraploid apomictic species which breed true without pollination, and ultimately of hybrid origin between "Sorbus aria" and "Sorbus aucuparia". It is widely grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, though usually unrecognised, misidentified as "Sorbus intermedia". Although described in 1858,