Cotoneaster franchetii
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Cotoneaster franchetii (Franchet's cotoneaster or orange cotoneaster) is a species of Cotoneaster native to southwestern China, in the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan, and also in adjacent northern Myanmar and northern Thailand.[1][2]
It is an evergreen or semi-evergreen shrub growing to Template:Convert tall. The leaves are oval-acute, Template:Convert long and Template:Convert broad, shiny green above, pubescent below with dense whitish to yellowish hairs. The flowers are produced in corymbs of 5–15 together, each flower Template:Convert diameter, with the five petals pink on the outer side, white on the inner side. The fruit is a red pome Template:Convert diameter; they are eaten by fruit-eating birds who disperse the seeds in their droppings.[1][3][4]
Two varieties are accepted by some authors,[4] but not treated as distinct by the Flora of China:[1]
- Cotoneaster franchetii var. franchetii, described above
- Cotoneaster franchetii var. cinerascens Rehd, larger, to Template:Convert tall, with leaves up to Template:Convert long, and up to 30 flowers per corymb
Some authors include a third variety, var. sternianus,[2] although more often, this is treated as a distinct species, Cotoneaster sternianus.[4][5] As Cotoneaster sternianus it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[6]
Cultivation and uses
Cotoneaster franchetii is a popular ornamental plant. It has escaped from cultivation and become locally naturalised in parts of the British Isles and the Pacific Northwest of North America,[3][4] as well as Northern California.[7]
Scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the UK carried out a study on the effectiveness of hedges for soaking up air pollution, comparing different types of shrubs including cotoneaster, hawthorn, and western red cedar. They found that bushy, hairy-leafed varieties of cotoneaster, such as this, are “super plants” that can help soak up air pollution. On roads with heavy traffic, the dense, hairy-leaved Cotoneaster franchetii was at least 20% more effective at soaking up air pollution than other shrubs often planted along roadsides.[8]
References
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- ↑ a b Template:GRIN
- ↑ a b Flora of NW Europe: Cotoneaster franchetii Template:Webarchive
- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Flora of NW Europe: Cotoneaster sternianus Template:Webarchive
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