Cotoneaster franchetii
Encyclopedia
Cotoneaster franchetii (Franchet's Cotoneaster) is a species of Cotoneaster
native to southwestern China
, in the provinces of Guizhou
, Sichuan
, Xizang, and Yunnan
, and also in adjacent northern Myanmar
and northern Thailand
.
It is an evergreen
or semi-evergreen shrub
growing to 3 m tall. The leaves
are oval-acute, 2–3.5 cm long and 1–1.5 cm broad, shiny green above, pubescent below with dense whitish to yellowish hairs. The flower
s are produced in corymbs of 5–15 together, each flower 6–7 mm diameter, with the five petals pink on the outer side, white on the inner side. The fruit
is a red pome
6–9 mm diameter; they are eaten by fruit-eating bird
s, which disperse the seeds in their droppings.
Two varieties
are accepted by some authors, but not treated as distinct by the Flora of China
:
Some authors include a third variety, var. sternianus, though this is more often treated as a distinct species Cotoneaster sternianus.
. It has escaped from cultivation and become locally naturalised
in parts of the British Isles
and the Pacific Northwest
of North America
.
Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster is a genus of woody plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region , with a strong concentration of diversity in the genus in the mountains of southwestern China and the Himalayas...
native to southwestern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, in the provinces of Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, Xizang, and Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, and also in adjacent northern Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
and northern Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
It is an evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
or semi-evergreen shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
growing to 3 m tall. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are oval-acute, 2–3.5 cm long and 1–1.5 cm broad, shiny green above, pubescent below with dense whitish to yellowish hairs. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are produced in corymbs of 5–15 together, each flower 6–7 mm diameter, with the five petals pink on the outer side, white on the inner side. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a red pome
Pome
In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subfamily Maloideae of the family Rosaceae.A pome is an accessory fruit composed of one or more carpels surrounded by accessory tissue...
6–9 mm diameter; they are eaten by fruit-eating bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, which disperse the seeds in their droppings.
Two varieties
Variety (biology)
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....
are accepted by some authors, but not treated as distinct by the Flora of China
Flora of China (journal)
Flora of China is a scientific publication aimed at describing the plants native to China.The is a collaborative scientific effort to publish the first modern English-language account of the approximately 31,000 species of vascular plants of China...
:
- Cotoneaster franchetii var. franchetii. Described above.
- Cotoneaster franchetii var. cinerascens Rehd. Larger, to 4 m tall, with leaves up to 4 cm long, and up to 30 flowers per corymb.
Some authors include a third variety, var. sternianus, though this is more often treated as a distinct species Cotoneaster sternianus.
Cultivation and uses
Cotoneaster franchetii is a popular ornamental plantOrnamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
. It has escaped from cultivation and become locally naturalised
Naturalisation (biology)
In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....
in parts of the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
and the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.