Cotoneaster integrifolius, Small-leaved Cotoneaster
© John Wilde
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|Cotoneaster integrifolius (Roxb.) Klotz, Lindley, auct. non Wallich ex Lindley|
Small-leaved cotoneaster, also called rockspray or entire-leaved cotoneaster, is a once-common garden shrub which has now become naturalised and established in many wild situations.
A low-growing or prostrate evergreen shrub producing numerous small white flowers which are followed by bright red fleshy berries containing two or more hard stones. The leathery leaves are c. 7mm long, oval with a notch at the tips, dark green and shiny.
|Country of origin|
|Location in Ireland|
In many places, especially rock exposures in quarries, on crags, or on masonry. There is an extensive colony on crags on Garron Head high above Garron Tower, County Antrim.
Flowers are produced in May - June; berries mature September - October. The berries are eaten by birds and the stone passes through the gut.
|Wildlife and habitat impacts|
There is probably little or no impact on animal life. The major effect is shading-out of other vegetation, but this is not generally significant, except at Knockninny and Belmore Mountain in County Fermanagh. At these localities the spread of this species is said to be reducing available habitats for the rare and local dense-flowered orchid (Neotinea maculate).
The stones, containing the seeds, are bird-sown, and readily germinate.
|What you can do as an individual|
Report any occurrence in the wild to CEDaR or The Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI).
In most instances this species poses no problems and no management is necessary except control by physical removal or cutting-back. Where spread is deemed to be damaging the habitat, probably the only realistic form of control is by repeatedly cutting-back, digging up or ripping up the plants, and weeding out seedlings.
|Text written by: |
Paul Hackney, Keeper of Botany, Ulster Museum