Tropicos | Name - Cotoneaster Medik.

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Cotoneaster Medik.

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Project Name Data (Last Modified On 5/8/2022)

Acceptance : Accepted

Project Data (Last Modified On 5/30/2018)

Contributor Text : Shahina A. Ghazanfar

Contributor Institution : Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Comment/Acknowledgements :

SPECIES DOUBTFULLY RECORDED FROM PAKISTAN

Cotoneaster acuminatus Lindl., Trans. Linn. Soc. London13: 101 (1822).

Cited by Stewart (Ann, Cat. Vasc. Pl. W. Pak. & Kashm., p. 347) from Hazara, Nathia?.

C. acuminate is found in Bhutan, N India, Nepal, Sikkim, Tibetan Plateau, Assam-Burma and China (Sichuan, Xizang). I have not seen any authentic specimens from Pakistan, and it is unlikely to be present there.

Cotoneaster uniflorus Bunge in Ledeb., Fl. Alt. 2: 220 (1830).

Found in China (Qinghai, Xinjiang), NW Mongolia and Russia. Material cited under this name is referable to C. integerrimus.

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Deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees, unarmed. Leaves alternate, simple, petiolate, stipulate with caducous stipules, leaf blade entire. Inflorescence terminal or axillary, cymose or corymbose, sometimes flowers in fascicles or solitary. Hypanthium cupulate or campanulate, adnate to the ovary. Flowers 5-merous, bisexual. Sepals 5, persistent. Petals 5, erect or spreading, imbricate in bud. Stamens 10–20, inserted at edge of hypanthium. Carpels 2–5, lower part dorsally adnate to hypanthium. Ovary inferior or semi-inferior, 2–5-locular with 2 erect ovules in each loculus; styles 2–5, free; stigmas flat. Fruit fleshy, globose to subglobose, depressed apically to ovoid, containing 2–5 woody, 1-seeded nutlets, and crowned with the persistent calyx. Seeds compressed. 2n=34.

A genus of 50‒70 species, distributed in temperate and subtropical N Africa, Asia (except Japan), Central America (Mexico), and Europe; most abundant in SW China and the Himalayan region; represented in Pakistan by 11 species.

The identification and classification of species in Cotoneaster is problematic and complex due to apomixiswithin the genus. Diploid, polyploid and apomictic taxa exist, and, as in all other genera of Rosaceae subfamily Maloideae, the polyploid taxa in Cotoneaster are apomictic but pseudogamous . It is, therefore, important to know the chromosome number of a taxon as it shows its breeding system. Because apomictic taxa are genetically identical from one generation to the next, each lineage has some characters of a ture species, and have much smaller differences than is normal between species of most genera (often called microspecies or species aggregates).

For the taxa found in Pakistan, I have taken a wide species concept (without establishing microspecies or species aggregates) as chromosome numbers are not known for many taxa. I have followed as far as possible the treatment as given in Flora of Nepal (3: 2011).Cotoneaster species are commonly cultivated as ornamentals much liked for their red berries.

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1.	+	Evergreen shrub with intricate prostrate branches; leaves generally small, 4–11 × 2–8(–10) mm, green, glossy.	11. C. microphyllus
	–	Deciduous shrubs or small trees with erect or spreading branches; leaves usually larger than above.	2
2.	+	Flowers bright pink to pink.	3
	–	Flowers white.	4
3.	+	Petals bright pink; leaves broadly ovate to ovate (13‒45 × 9–37 mm); upper surface green, almost glabrous, sometimes with a few hairs on midrib, lower surface yellowish green, ± pilose, especially on nerves and margins; inflorescence of corybose clusters compact, of about 12 flowers; hypanthium sparsely pilose.	3. C. roseus
	–	Petals pink; leaves broadly ovate to almost suborbicular (50‒100 × 32–72 mm); upper surface darkish green, ± hairy on midrib, lower surface grey-green, pilose; inflorescence of corymbose clusters each with 3–5 flowers; hypanthium densely pilose.	7. C. obovatus
4.	+	Leaves broadly ovate to almost orbicular (5–20 mm), grey-green; flowers in almost sessile axillary clusters.	6. C. nummularius
	–	Leaves ovate to braodly ovate to broadly obovate, generally > 20 mm; flowers in compact corymbose or loose clusters.	5
5.	+	Flower 5–30 in compact corymbose clusters; pedicels 1–5 mm.	6
	–	Flowers in loose clusters of up to 7 flowers; pedicel 5–10 mm (1–2 mm in C. aitchinsonii).	10
6.	+	Hypanthium sparsely pilose to glabrous; fruit ± pilose to glabrous.	7
	–	Hypanthium pilose to pilose-strigose; fruit pilose.	8
7.	+	Leaves broadly ovate to broadly elliptic,15–26(–40) × 10–20(–30) mm, upper surface glabrous, lower villous; pedicel 4–5 mm; flowers up to 7 in clusters.	4. C. racemiflorus
	–	Leaves ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 32–95 × 14–37 mm, ± glabrous on both surfaces; pedicel ± 1 mm; flowers up to 30 or more in compact clusters.	1. C. affinis
8.	+	Leaves elliptic to elliptic lanceolate (20–25 × 10–14 mm), glossy above.	5. C. persicus
	–	Leaves broadly ovate to broadly obovate, usually dull green, sometimes glossy above.	9
9.	+	Stems and branches with lenticels; leaves 20–45 × 14–25 mm; flower clusters with up to 20 flowers.	9. C. insignis
	–	Stems and branches without lenticels; leaves smaller than C. insignis (10–40 × 9–24 mm); flower clusters with up to 9 flowers.	10. C. ellipticis
10.	+	Leaves broadly ovate (15–45 × 10–28 mm), ± pubescent to pilose on upper surface, densely pilose on lower surface; pedicel 7–10 mm, flowers pendant; fruit glabrous.	2. C. integerrimus
	–	Leaves broadly ovate to broadly elliptic (30–50 × 24–40 mm), glabrous on upper surface, dull green above, pilose on lower surface; pedicel 1–2 mm; flowers not pendant; fruit sparsely pilose.	8. C. aitchisonii