Cotoneaster tenuipes
Encyclopedia
Cotoneaster tenuipes is an "extremely graceful," meter-high, hirsute, deciduous
cotoneaster
shrub
endemic to the temperate regions of China
. It was named and described by botanists Alfred Rehder
and E.H.Wilson
in 1912.
are green, with slightly impressed veins, and sparsely covered with long, thin, soft, weak, hairs when young, but nearly hairless with age.
Both the leaf-stem
s (3-5 mm long) and their stipule
s (2.5-5 mm long, lanceolate) are hairy, but the stipules are much less so.
Its flowers are about 7 mm in diameter, and borne on corymbs of two to four flowers each. The slender pedicel
s (1-3 mm), rachis
and hypanthium
are villous and closely appressed, but hypanthium only abaxially. The bract
s (2-4 mm long) are puberulous, linear or linear-lanceolate. The sepal
s (~1.2 mm long) are triangularly ovate, and the petal
s (~3-4 mm long and almost as broad) are white and stiff, ovate or suborbicular, and are clawed at their base, giving it its epithet tenuipes which equates roughly with "slender foot" or "slender claw". Each flower has 15 stamen
s, which are shorter than its petals, and 2 styles that are shorter than or equal to the stamens. The ovary is covered at the apex with very short, fine, erect hairs.
from September to October. They are purplish black, ovoid pomes (~ 8.5 X 5.5 mm), each contains one or two pyrena
s.
, in the provinces of Gansu
, Qinghai
, Shaanxi
, Sichuan
, Xizang and Yunnan
, in forested and dryer, rocky, montane slopes, at elevations between 1900-3100 meters high.
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
cotoneaster
Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster is a genus of woody plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to the Palaearctic region , with a strong concentration of diversity in the genus in the mountains of southwestern China and the Himalayas...
shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
endemic to the temperate regions of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It was named and described by botanists Alfred Rehder
Alfred Rehder
Alfred Rehder was a horticulturist and taxonomist who worked at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Rehder was a newspaper writer from Germany who was originally hired as a laborer at the Arnold Arboretum. His talents for horticultural plant taxonomy were soon recognized, however...
and E.H.Wilson
Ernest Henry Wilson
Ernest Henry "Chinese" Wilson , better known as E. H. Wilson, was a notable English plant collector who introduced a large range of about 2000 of Asian plant species to the West; some sixty bear his name.-Career:...
in 1912.
Branches
The terminal and secondary twigs of C. tenuipes are slender, cylindrical and tapering; initially grayish-yellow, later changing to brownish-red. They have shaggy hairs that lie flatly to the stem surface when new, which are lost by degrees over time.Leaves
The leaves of C. tenuipes are typically 2-2.5 cm (occasionally up to 3.5 cm) long, and 1.5-2 cm wide, and range in shape from ovate or elliptic-ovate to narrowly elliptic-ovate. The undersides are grayish with raised veins, and covered with short, woolly hairs which lie flatly to the surface; the uppersidesare green, with slightly impressed veins, and sparsely covered with long, thin, soft, weak, hairs when young, but nearly hairless with age.
Both the leaf-stem
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
s (3-5 mm long) and their stipule
Stipule
In botany, stipule is a term coined by Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk...
s (2.5-5 mm long, lanceolate) are hairy, but the stipules are much less so.
Flowers
C. tenuipes goes into bloom from May to June.Its flowers are about 7 mm in diameter, and borne on corymbs of two to four flowers each. The slender pedicel
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
s (1-3 mm), rachis
Rachis
Rachis is a biological term for a main axis or "shaft".-In zoology:In vertebrates a rachis can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the rachis usually form the supporting axis of the body and is then called the spine or vertebral column...
and hypanthium
Hypanthium
A hypanthium is a floral structure consisting of the bases of the sepals, petals, and stamens fused together. Its presence is diagnostic of many families, including the Rosaceae, Grossulariaceae, and Fabaceae...
are villous and closely appressed, but hypanthium only abaxially. The bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s (2-4 mm long) are puberulous, linear or linear-lanceolate. The sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s (~1.2 mm long) are triangularly ovate, and the petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s (~3-4 mm long and almost as broad) are white and stiff, ovate or suborbicular, and are clawed at their base, giving it its epithet tenuipes which equates roughly with "slender foot" or "slender claw". Each flower has 15 stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s, which are shorter than its petals, and 2 styles that are shorter than or equal to the stamens. The ovary is covered at the apex with very short, fine, erect hairs.
Fruit
C tenuipes bears its fruitFruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
from September to October. They are purplish black, ovoid pomes (~ 8.5 X 5.5 mm), each contains one or two pyrena
Pyrena
Pyrena or pyrene is the name for a nutlet resembling a seed, or the kernel of a drupe or drupelet....
s.
Range and habitat
C. Tenuipes is found naturally in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, in the provinces of Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
, Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
, Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, Xizang and Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, in forested and dryer, rocky, montane slopes, at elevations between 1900-3100 meters high.