What is "whitebeam"

Whitebeam \White"beam`\, n. (Bot.) The common beam tree of England ( Pyrus Aria); -- so called from the white, woolly under surface of the leaves.

n. Any of various deciduous trees of the genus (taxlink Sorbus subg. Aria subgenus noshow=1), native to Eurasia.

The whitebeams are members of the Rosaceae family, comprising subgenus Aria of genus Sorbus, and hybrids involving species of this subgenus and members of subgenera Sorbus, Torminaria and Chamaemespilus. They are deciduous trees with simple or lobed leaves, arranged alternately. They are related to the rowans (Sorbus subgenus Sorbus), and many of the endemic restricted-range apomictic microspecies of whitebeam in Europe are thought to derive from hybrids between S. aria and the European rowan S. aucuparia; some are also thought to be hybrids with the wild service tree S. torminalis, notably the service tree of Fontainebleau Sorbus latifolia in French woodlands.

The best known species is the common whitebeam Sorbus aria, a columnar tree which grows to tall by broad, with clusters of white flowers in spring followed by speckled red berries in autumn (fall).