Rowan is attested from the 1520s in the sense "fruit of the service tree", adopted via French "sorbe" from Latin "sorbum" "service-berry". "Sorbus domestica" is also known as "whitty pear", the adjective whitty meaning "pinnate". The name "mountain-ash" for "Sorbus domestica" is due to a superficial similarity of the rowan leaves to those of the ash, not to be confused in "Fraxinus ornus", a true ash that is also known as "mountain ash". "Sorbus torminalis" is also known as "chequer tree"; its fruits, formerly used to flavour beer, are called "chequers", perhaps from the spotted pattern of the fruit. The name
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,