Cotoneaster

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Cotoneaster Template:IPAc-en<ref>Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607 Template:ISBN</ref> is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region (temperate Asia, Europe, north Africa), with a strong concentration of diversity in the genus in the mountains of southwestern China and the Himalayas.<ref name=foc>Flora of China: Cotoneaster (includes most of the world's Cotoneaster species) www.efloras.org</ref> They are related to hawthorns (Crataegus), firethorns (Pyracantha), photinias (Photinia), and rowans (Sorbus).

Depending on the species definition used, between 70 and 300 different species of Cotoneaster are described, with many apomictic microspecies treated as species by some authors, but only as varieties by others.<ref name=foc/><ref name=bean>Bean, W. J. (1976). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles 8th edition. John Murray Template:ISBN.</ref>

The majority of species are shrubs from Template:Convert tall, varying from ground-hugging prostrate plants to erect shrubs; a few, notably C. frigidus, are small trees up to Template:Convert tall and Template:Convert trunk diameter. The prostrate species are mostly alpine plants growing at high altitudes (e.g. C. integrifolius, which grows at Template:Convert in the Himalayas), while the larger species occur in scrub and woodland gaps at lower altitudes.Template:Cn

Description

The shoots are dimorphic, with long shoots (Template:Convert long) producing structural branch growth, and short shoots (Template:Convert long) bearing the flowers; this pattern often developing a 'herringbone' form of branching. The leaves are arranged alternately, Template:Convert long, ovate to lanceolate in shape, entire; both evergreen and deciduous species occur.Template:Cn

Flowers are produced from late spring to early summer, either solitarily or in corymbs of up to 100 flowers. The flower is either fully open or has its five petals partially open, with a diameter of approximately Template:Convert meters. They may be any shade from white through creamy white to light pink to dark pink to almost red, 10–20 stamens and up to five styles. The fruit is a small pome measuring approximately Template:Convert in diameter, and it can be pink or bright red, orange or even maroon or black when mature, containing one to three (rarely up to five) seeds.<ref name=bean/><ref name=rhs>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan Template:ISBN.</ref> Fruit on some species stays on until the following year.Template:Cn

Wildlife value

Cotoneaster species are used as larval food plants by some Lepidoptera species including grey dagger, mottled umber, short-cloaked moth, winter moth, and hawthorn moth. The flowers attract bees and butterflies and the fruits are eaten by birds.Template:Cn

Although only a single species is native there, in the UK and Ireland, Cotoneaster species are, along with the related genus Pyracantha, a source of nectar. The red berries are also highly attractive to blackbirds and other thrushes.Template:Cn

Cultivation and uses

Cotoneasters are very popular garden shrubs, grown for their attractive habit and decorative fruit. Some cultivars are of known parentage, such as the very popular Cotoneaster × watereri Exell (Waterer's cotoneaster; C. frigidus × C. salicifolius), while others are of mixed or unknown heritage.<ref name=rhs/>

The following species and cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-Template:Div col

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Invasiveness

Many species have escaped from cultivation and become invasive weeds in regions with suitable climatic conditions, such as numerous Chinese species naturalised in north-western Europe.<ref name=fwne/> C. glaucophyllus has become an invasive weed in Australia<ref>Weeds Australia – Weed Identification – Cotoneaster www.weeds.org.au Template:Webarchive</ref> and California.<ref>Cal-IPC: Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands. www.cal-ipc.org</ref> C. simonsii is listed on the New Zealand National Pest Plant Accord preventing its sale and distribution due to its invasive nature. On Portland, Dorset, UK, it has become invasive and is regularly managed to protect the local environment along the Jurassic Coast.

Nomenclature and classification

The genus name Cotoneaster derives from cotoneum, a Latin name for the quince, and the suffix -aster, 'resembling'. The name is correctly masculine, though in some older works it was wrongly treated as feminine, resulting in different name endings for many of the species (e.g.Cotoneaster integerrima instead of Cotoneaster integerrimus).<ref name=bean/>

The genus is often divided into two or more sections, though the situation is complicated by hybridisation:<ref name=bean/>

  • Cotoneaster sect. Cotoneaster (syn. sect. Orthopetalum). Flowers solitary or up to 6 together; petals forward-pointing, often tinged pink. Mostly smaller shrubs.
  • Cotoneaster sect. Chaenopetalum. Flowers more than 20 together in corymbs; petals opening flat, creamy white. Mostly larger shrubs.

Edibility

Similar to other small, red berries, all cotoneaster berries are eaten by various bird species which disperse the seeds widely and are not suitable for humans to eat. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia lists Cotoneaster berries as poisonous<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Selected species

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Template:Div col end Sources:<ref name=foc/><ref name=rhs /><ref name=fwne>Flora of NW Europe: Cotoneaster species list Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=fon>Flora of Nepal: Cotoneaster www.efloras.org</ref><ref name=fe>Flora Europaea: Cotoneaster rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk</ref><ref name=dvf>Den virtuella floran: Cotoneaster linnaeus.nrm.se(in Swedish)</ref>

References

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