Cotoneaster laxiflorusJ.Jacq. ex Lindl.

dark-fruited cotoneaster

WFO wfo-0000988941 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Oleg Kosterin
fig. a Oleg Kosterin, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-05 / obs. 205967059
Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Алексей Ябс
fig. b Алексей Ябс, CC0 1.0 / obs. 203503348
Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Алексей Ябс
fig. c Алексей Ябс, CC0 1.0 / obs. 203518051
Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Yurii Basov
fig. d Yurii Basov, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 202909049
Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Алексей Ябс
fig. e Алексей Ябс, CC0 1.0 / obs. 202475878
Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Алексей Ябс
fig. f Алексей Ябс, CC0 1.0 / obs. 200232938
Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Nina Filippova
fig. g Nina Filippova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196559215
Cotoneaster laxiflorus, photographed by Nina Filippova
fig. h Nina Filippova, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 196807129

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 40 botanical countries

Regions where Cotoneaster laxiflorus is native: Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Irkutsk, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Primorye, Tadzhikistan, Türkiye, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, Hungary, Krym, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, South European Russia, Sweden, Ukraine AltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChitaInner MongoliaIrkutskKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaPrimoryeTadzhikistanTürkiyeTuvaWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaBaltic StatesBelarusBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandHungaryKrymNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSouth European RussiaSwedenUkraine
Native distribution of Cotoneaster laxiflorus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Irkutsk IRK
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
Primorye PRM
Tadzhikistan TZK
Türkiye TUR
Tuva TVA
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Baltic States BLT EUROPE
Belarus BLR
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
Hungary HUN
Krym KRY
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
South European Russia RUS
Sweden SWE
Ukraine UKR

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 1,977 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -27.9 °C -19.4 °C -11.8 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 19.0 °C 23.1 °C 25.2 °C
Annual rainfall 281 mm 479 mm 772 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 11 mm 59 mm 116 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,977 research-grade observations of Cotoneaster laxiflorus that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 34 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cotoneaster alaunicus f. oxyphyllus (Borbás) Soó
  • Cotoneaster alaunicus f. pluriflorus (Borbás) Soó
  • Cotoneaster alaunicus var. sitnensis Hrabětová
  • Cotoneaster alaunicus var. subtatricus Hrabětová
  • Cotoneaster commixtus (C.K.Schneid.) Flinck & B.Hylmö
  • Cotoneaster cotoneaster var. oxyphyllus Borbás
  • Cotoneaster cotoneaster var. pluriflorus Borbás
  • Cotoneaster integerrimus var. matrensis (Domokos) Soó
  • Cotoneaster integerrimus var. melanocarpus (Bunge) Krylov
  • Cotoneaster laxiflorus Hook.
  • Cotoneaster matrensis Domokos
  • Cotoneaster matrensis f. oxyphylla (Borbás) Soó
  • Cotoneaster matrensis f. pluriflorus (Borbás) Soó
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus Fisch. ex Blytt
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus prol. laxiflorus (J.Jacq. ex Lindl.) Asch. & Graebn.
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus subsp. moravicus Hrabětová
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus var. altaicus G.Klotz
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus var. commixtus C.K.Schneid.
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus var. daghestanicus (Zinserl.) Gladkova
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus var. laxiflorus (J.Jacq. ex Lindl.) C.K.Schneid.
  • Cotoneaster melanocarpus var. typicus C.K.Schneid.
  • Cotoneaster niger Regel
  • Cotoneaster niger unranked laxiflorus (J.Jacq. ex Lindl.) Koehne
  • Cotoneaster niger var. daghestanicus Zinserl.

and 10 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol COME14. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.