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 aucuparia tart, and aromatic, and candied or used in compote. The two cultivars are self-pollinating, yield fruit early, and the sugar content increases while the acid content decreases as the fruit ripen. 'Beissneri' is a cultivar with reddish foliage and bark and serrated leaves. Other edible varieties originate in and are named after Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria. Russian botanist Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin began in 1905 to crossbreed common "S. aucuparia" with other species to create fruit trees. His experiments resulted in the cultivars 'Burka', 'Likjornaja', 'Dessertnaja', 'Granatnaja', 'Rubinovaja', and 'Titan'. Other "S. aucuparia" hybrids planted in Western Europe beginning in the 1980s