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 × hybrida midrib as separate leaflets. All three polyploid species are apomictic species which breed true without pollination. "Sorbus" × "hybrida" is grown as an ornamental tree in northern Europe, and is locally naturalised in the British Isles. The cultivar 'Gibbsii' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Sorbus × hybrida Sorbus "×" hybrida, the oakleaf mountain ash, Swedish service-tree or Finnish whitebeam, is a hybrid species of whitebeam native to Scandinavia in Norway, eastern Sweden, and southwestern Finland, and locally in the Baltic States in Latvia. It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 10–15 m tall with