Cotoneaster horizontalis; 'Cotoneaster'

 This plant has been widely naturalised often in rocky places, and often found on waste ground, verges, banks, walls it prefers chalky soils. The soil of this specimen was full of building material and looking rather compact, but this Cotoneaster was blooming and didn’t seem to be effected.

Contoneaster horizontalis is a deciduous shrub, arching to prostrate, but often supported against a wall. The twigs resemble a fish bone pattern. The flowers are small in size and pink-white in colour in cluster of 2-3 and the berries are an orange- red colour. Leaves are 6-12mm long with a glossy green top and a paler hairless bottom.

The fruits of this plant are poisonous for humans but a large source of food for animal’s particularly birds, when flowering it also attracts a large number of bees to the area, so benefitting local ecosystems if planted with the right plants.

This Cotoneaster was planted at the base of a wall which was growing upwards. Due to the way it grows it can cover large areas of land, this could be used as a way of covering areas and reduce problems such as urban heat islands.