The leaves are glossy dark green above, and densely hairy with white hairs beneath, 6–10 cm long and 3–5 cm broad, broadest near the middle, shallowly lobed with seven to twelve forward-pointing lobes on each side of the leaf, bluntly pointed at the apex, and serrated margins.

[1][2] Its closest relatives are some of the endemic British whitebeams, notably Hedlundia anglica, which differs only in slightly broader leaves.

All are tetraploid apomictic species which breed true without pollination, and ultimately of hybrid origin between Aria edulis and Sorbus aucuparia.

Although described in 1858, it was only brought into widespread cultivation in the 1950s by the Danish Heath Society, being sold as a "new improved form of Sorbus intermedia", sometimes with the cultivar name 'Latifolia' (additionally leading to confusion with Karpatiosorbus latifolia).

It has also proved very tolerant of oceanic climates with cold summers, growing much better than S. intermedia in coastal conditions north to the Faroe Islands.