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
Venusia cambrica The larvae feed on the leaves of "Sorbus aucuparia". Other recorded foodplants include alder, apple, birch, mountain ash, serviceberry and willow. Venusia cambrica Venusia cambrica, the Welsh wave, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in Europe, western and central Siberia, Altai, Transbaikalia, the Russian Far East, the Korean Peninsula, Japan and in North America, where it can be found across Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia, south in the west to California, south in the east to Georgia. The wingspan is 27–30 mm. The light grey front wing has black and brown cross lines.