Arran whitebeams complex fashion, which involved the common whitebeam ("Sorbus aria") giving rise to the tetraploid rock whitebeam ("Sorbus rupicola") which is still found on Holy Isle. This species is able to survive at higher altitudes and therefore occupies a less competitive niche with fewer tree species able to tolerate the harsher conditions. The rock whitebeam interbred with the rowan / mountain ash ("Sorbus aucuparia") to produce the hybrid, a fertile separate species the Scottish whitebeam ("Sorbus arranesis") which grows well in this zone of reduced competitive growth at higher altitudes. The bastard mountain ash ("Sorbus pseudofennica") arose from a further cross
Rowan by some commentators. In the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, this species is commonly referred to as a "dogberry" tree. In German, "Sorbus aucuparia" is known as the "Vogelbeerbaum" ("bird-berry tree") or as "Eberesche". The latter is a compound of the name of the ash tree ("Esche") with what is contemporarily the name of the boar ("Eber"), but in fact the continuation of a Gaulish name, "eburo-" (also the name for a dark reddish-brown colour, cognate with Greek "orphnos", Old Norse "iarpr" "brown"); like "sorbus", "eburo-" seems to have referred to the colour of the berries;