Spreading Cotoneaster

(Rosaceae - Rose Family)

Form

• medium-sized ornamental shrub
• maturing at about 7' tall by 8' wide
• upright columnar growth habit in youth, but quickly becoming horizontal and spreading with age, with the outer stems unbranched for 1' to 3' and held horizontally to slightly downswept
• medium growth rate

Culture

• full sun to partial shade
• prefers moist, well-drained soils in full sun but is very adaptable and urban tolerant, including adaptability to poor soils, various soil pHs, drought, pruning, moderate salt spray, and some soil compaction
• propagated by rooted stem cuttings or seeds
• Rose Family, with few disease and pest problems; the problems that most Cotoneasters experience (especially fireblight, spider mites, and webworm) are rarely shared by this upright-spreading species
• mulch thoroughly underneath the shrub canopy to prevent hard-to-access tall weeds from climbing through the stems
• moderately available, primarily in container form

Foliage

• dark glossy green leaves are about 1" long and are alternate, elliptical, with flattened margins (some Cotoneasters have rolled or wavy leaf margins) and without impressed leaf veins
• fall color is a nice mixture of green, yellow, orange, red, and burgandy, slowly becoming deciduous

Flowers

• pink buds open to small white-pink flowers that are held tightly against the stems, blossoming in late May and early June
• the many solitary and clustered small flowers are effective when a large, mature, unpruned plant is in full flower

Fruits

• 0.25" long red oval fruits mature in September and October and abscise by early Winter
• the ornamental effect is limited due to the fruits becoming lost in the mixed-colored, slow-to-abscise Autumn foliage, but is very attractive when viewed up-close

Twigs

• red-purple (although not ornamental) with a persistent pubescence on the tips of the Winter stems, and a waxy coating that flakes off with age further down the stems; buds are very small

Trunk

• not applicable

ID Summary

• small, elliptical, entire leaves have a shiny upper surface, flat margins, and mixed fall color, alternating along the pubescent stems that are fairly straight and do not branch very much (not counting the very short spur shoots that yield the small white flowers and ellipsoid red fruits, in addition to leaves)
• growth habit is initially upright, with the branching becoming very horizontal with age (if unpruned)

USAGE

Function

• informal or formal hedge, entranceway, group planting, foundation, specimen, or border shrub
• effective when unpruned and used with distinctly vertical plants for a stark contrast in growth directions
• also good with a background of evergreens (red berries and mixed-color fall foliage contrast well against the greenery)

Texture

• fine texture in foliage and medium texture when bare
• open density in foliage and when bare

Assets

• lustrous dark green Summer foliage
• horizontal stems with maturity
• branching to the ground (excellent when used as a hedge)

Liabilities

• garbage and dead leaf collector (due to low branching)
• may eventually spread horizontally beyond its intended boundaries if kept as an informal hedge or unpruned shrub

Habitat

• zones 5 to 7
• native to China

SELECTIONS

Alternates

• other horizontally spreading deciduous shrubs or hedges (Euonymus alatus 'Compacta', Ligustrum obtusifolium regelianum, Viburnum plicatum tomentosum 'Shasta', etc.)

Variants

• the species form is the only form available; however, two Cotoneasters that were once commonly in cultivation (yet today are hard to obtain) are listed below, with their descriptions based upon differences as compared to Spreading Cotoneaster:
• Cotoneaster lucidus - Hedge Cotoneaster - leaves twice as large but just as glossy, with an even more outstanding fall color mix; growth habit a little more upright, and fruits turn from red to purple-black at maturity
• Cotoneaster zabelii - Cherryberry Cotoneaster - leaves twice as large and are distinctly gray-green due to their dense pubescence (and therefore are not glossy); fruits are dull red but in pendulous clusters, hanging from 2" long peduncles and pedicels from the stems in Autumn

NOTES

Translation

• Cotoneaster translates as "quince-like", referring to the larger foliage of another Rose Family member (Chaenomeles, or Quince).
• divaricatus translates as "with spreading branches", referring to the mature horizontal growth habit.

Purpose

• Spreading Cotoneaster is a shrub that is excellent as an informal hedge or specimen shrub for its distinctive horizontal lines at maturity.

Summary

• Cotoneaster divaricatus is a horizontally spreading shrub or hedge, branching to the ground, with small glossy dark green leaves, red Autumn fruits, vibrant mixed fall color, and virtually absent of the disease and pest problems that plague some Cotoneasters.