Cotoneaster franchetii

Franchet's cotoneaster, Franchet's Cotoneaster

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Franchet's cotoneaster is a naturalized shrub found in northern California coastal regions, Klamath Ranges, and northern central western California in thickets, meadows, forest edges, and disturbed places at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from May to July, this shrub produces delicate pink or rose flowers 7 to 10 millimeters long with erect petals. Growing 1 to 3 meters tall with gracefully arching branches, it forms an elegant evergreen habit with glossy, ovate leaves. Its leaves are 18 to 62 millimeters long, featuring a shiny upper surface and a distinctively yellow or gray-tomentose undersurface with sunken lateral veins. The shrub produces obovate fruits 8 to 12 millimeters long, transitioning from orange to red-orange when ripe between October and April.

Habitat: Thickets, meadows, forest, riparian edges, disturbed places

Bloom period: May-Jul, fruiting Oct--Apr

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, NCoRO, n CW

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Del Norte, Alameda, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, San Francisco, San Mateo, Sonoma, Trinity, Los Angeles, Yolo, Santa Clara, Mariposa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.