Peking Cotoneaster

Shrubs deciduous, 2–4 m tall. Branchlets brownish or reddish brown, terete, slender, initially villous, glabrescent. Petiole 2–5(–10) mm, villous; stipules caducous, brown, linear-lanceolate, 3–5 mm, slightly villous; leaf blade elliptic-ovate to oblong-ovate, 2–4(–5) × 1–2(–3) cm, veins raised abaxially and impressed adaxially, adaxially glabrous or both surfaces initially villous, gradually glabrescent, subglabrous when old, base broadly cuneate, apex acute, rarely acuminate. Corymbs 2–4 cm, 2–5-flowered; rachis and pedicels villous; bracts linear-lanceolate, 3–5 mm, slightly pilose. Pedicel 3–5 mm. Flowers 7–8 mm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate or shortly cylindric, abaxially glabrous or villous. Sepals triangular, 1–2 × 1.5–2 mm, apex acute or ± obtuse. Petals erect, white, tinged reddish, broadly obovate or oblong, 3.5–4.5 × 3–4 mm, glabrous, base somewhat long clawed, apex obtuse. Stamens 10–15, shorter than petals. Ovary densely villous apically; styles often 2, free, not exceeding stamens. Fruit black, ellipsoid, obovoid, or subglobose, 6–8(–10) mm in diam., villous, pyrenes 2 or 3. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Aug–Sep.

Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan [Mongolia, Russia].

Slopes, foothills, gullies, forests, forest margins, thickets, mountain valleys, exposed grasslands; 1000--3700 m.

Cotoneaster acutifolius, the Peking cotoneaster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is native to southern Siberia, Mongolia, and most of China, and it has been introduced to Canada, the northern United States, and northern Europe. It is a shrub typically 2–4 m (7–13 ft) tall, found in a wide variety of habitats. Some authorities consider Cotoneaster lucidus, the shiny cotoneaster, to be a synonym of Cotoneaster acutifolius.