Cotoneaster frigidus

Cotoneaster frigidus
Cotoneaster frigidus, leaves and fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Cotoneaster
Species:
C. frigidus
Binomial name
Cotoneaster frigidus
Wall. ex Lindl.

Cotoneaster frigidus, the tree cotoneaster, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cotoneaster of the family Rosaceae, native to the Himalayas. It is a deciduous tree or shrub growing to 10–17 metres (33–56 ft), with smooth, matt, alternate leaves 6–12 cm long and 4–5 cm broad. The creamy-white flowers are followed by masses of small, globose, red fruit (pomes) 5 mm diameter in autumn, persisting into winter or later if not eaten by birds.

It is widely grown in parks and gardens in temperate regions, and is commonly naturalised as a result of bird-disperded seed in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in Ireland. It is one of the parents of the very popular garden shrub Cotoneaster × watereri; this can be distinguished by its narrower, more lanceolate, slightly more glossy leaves with slightly grooved leaf veins, characters inherited from its other parent Cotoneaster salicifolius. The more compact cultivar 'Cornubia' (syn. C. × watereri 'Cornubia') has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It grows to 6 metres (20 ft).