Cotoneaster glaucophyllus
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
cotoneaster, large-leaved cotoneaster
Family
Rosaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
COTGLA
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial. Prefers free draining soil (Fromont and King, 1992). Gardens, bushland, wasteland areas and along railway lines. (Ermert and Clapp 1998) Wasteland, scrub in gullies, a garden weed (Webb et al., 1988). Stream banks, riverbeds, coastal and inshore islands, dry shrublands, rocklands, forest steeplands, coastal forest, forest margins and slips, roadside, quarries, wasteland, exotic plantations (Fromont and King, 1992).
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
UPL: Obligate Upland
Rarely is a hydrophyte, almost always in uplands (non-wetlands).
Detailed description
Spreading, evergreen shrub 2-5 m high. Stems erect at first then arching, young shoots buff coloured, maturing to dark reddish purple. Leaves up to 70 x 35 mm mostly distributed along young long shoots, often clustered on short shoots. dull and hairless above, pale tomentose below, but becoming hairless. flowers in groups of 15-60, petals white and spreading. Fruit 4-7mm diameter, scarlet or orange-red, glossy.
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
Similar taxa
Similar to C. coriaceus, but the veins are not obvious on the upper surface of the leaf. Also similar to C. pannosus, but this species has smaller leaves with the lower surface persistently tomentose.
Flowering
October, November, December, January
Flower colours
White
Fruiting
February - August
Life cycle
Perennial. Life-span expected to be several decades i.e. may outlive shrubby coprosmas (Fromont and King, 1992). Likely to have seed bank viability of about 2 years (Fromont and King, 1992). Reproduces by seed; each fruit contains many seeds with high viability (ibid.). Birds eat berries and the contained seeds are dispersed accordingly (Fromont and King, 1992)(Ermert and Clapp 1998).
Year naturalised
1982
Origin
China, N. temperate Old World regions, Himalayas
Reason for introduction
Ornamental.
Tolerances
Tolerant of moderate shade, tolerant of frost, tolerant of grazing (will resprout if cut), wide moisture tolerance (Fromont and King, 1992).
Etymology
cotoneaster: From cotoneus an old Latin name for the quince, and possibly aster, corruption of adinstar ‘resembling’, i.e. quince-like
glaucophyllus: Blue or greyish/bluish leaves; having bloom on the leaves
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.