T.E.R:R.A.I.N - Taranaki Educational Resource: Research, Analysis and Information Network

Cotoneaster

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Malaceae (often included in Rosaceae).
Genus: Cotoneaster
Species: C.glaucophyllus
Binomial name: Cotoneaster glaucophyllus
Common name: Cotoneaster, also known as  Bright bead cotoneaster, Cotoneaster serotinus

Cotoneaster glaucophyllus is a species of Cotoneaster native to China and the Himalayas.
This is a pest plant  is arching, spreading, evergreen shrub usually <3m tall (can grow up to 5m).

The leaves are elliptic to ovate 1.5–4 cm wideand  3–8 cm long with a leaf stalk 0.7–1.2 cm long.  The leaves are egg to diamond-shaped in clusters along stem  with upper surface hairless and lower surface covered with dense intertwined hairs (woolly) when young but becoming hairless with age.
The shrub flowers in Spring and Summer in white clusters. Each flower is about 8 mm wide and 5-petalled. The flower stalks are densely hairy. Flowers spring and summer.

Distinctive bunches of small red berries develop Feb-Aug. The fruit is a red pome 6–9 mm diameter and almost globe-shaped. The contain two yellowish and flattened seeds.They are eaten by fruit-eating birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings.  They are also dispersed by fruit washed along watercourses.

Its impact on environment is that it competes directly with native shrubs & forms pure stands. It is widespread in New Zealand and is common in scrub, wasteland, plantations, forest margins, coastal areas, riverbeds, quarries. It tolerates wide range of habitats.

 


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