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Rockspray Cotoneaster
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Rockspray Cotoneaster
ative Photo: Thingnam Girija
Common name: Rockspray cotoneaster, Chinese rockspray, Little-leaf cotoneaster, • Nepali: खरेटो Khareto • Nepali: खरेटो Khareto
Botanical name: Cotoneaster microphyllus    Family: Rosaceae (Rose family)

Rockspray Cotoneaster is a prostrate, mat-forming shrub which will climb over rocks. It is a strong contender for the plant found at highest altitudes. Leaves are 6-13 mm, elliptic-ovate, with pointed tip, dark-green above and bristly-haired beneath. Small white flowers, about 8 mm across, appear in leaf axils, either singly or in groups of 2-3. Sepals are densely hairy. This plant is loved for its showy scarlet berries. Rockspray cotoneaster is found in the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to SW China, at altitudes of 2000-5400. Flowering: May-June.

Identification credit: Tabish Photographed in Kufri, Himachal Pradesh & Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand.

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