Cotoneaster salicifolius Willow-leaved Cotoneaster

A diploid (2n=34), evergreen cotoneaster with willow-like leaves which are shiny and slightly wrinkled on the upper surface and hairy (tomentose) on the lower surface, with incurved edges and deeply impressed veins. It grows as an arching shrub up to 5m tall or sometimes in a low, procumbent form. Leaf size varies in different cultivars, from 3-10cm in length and it can be confused with other similar evergreen species such as Waterer's Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster x watereri) which doesn't have such strongly sunken veins. It has a scattered, widespread distribition in West Glamorgan. It is drought-tolerant and sometimes occurs naturalised on sand dunes. Unlike many other naturalised cortoneasters it is a sexually-outbreeding species.

Neophyte