Preferred common name: Common Whitebeam Other common names: Beam tree, chess apple, white beam tree Our Royal Horticultural Society Whitebeam (Sorbus aria ) is a tough, medium sized roundheaded deciduous native hedge, with masses of rounded silverwhite leaves above & downy white beneath. Followed by flat bunches of white flowers in early summer. In autumn foliage turns scarlet, alongside red berries.