Cotoneaster granatensis Boiss.
C. atlanticus G. Klotz, C. racemiflorus sensu Maire, C. nummularia auct., C. fontanesii var. tomentella Maire, C. tomentosa Batt.
Eng.: Cotoneaster. Spa.: Griñolera. Fre.: Cotonéaster à fleurs en buquet. Ara.: Akeran ifrakh, bu-mekherri, admam. Tam.: Amksu, acorara m’lel, acerharcif buzeru, admam.
Shrub, deciduous, hermaphrodite, up to 3(6) m in height, upright and irregular in shape, with extended branches. Trunk generally well defined, long, narrow, with blackish-brown to reddish-brown bark, slightly fissured. Young branches reddish-brown or brown-purple, covered by a dense villous-tomentose indumentum, which usually disappears in the branches older than 1 year. Leaves alternate, solitary or grouped in brachyblasts (1.2-4.7 × 0.7-3.7 cm), suborbicular or elliptic, ± obtuse tip, mucronate or not, sometimes emarginate, attenuate-rounded at the base, margin entire or subentire, glabrous or glabrescent, deep green on the upper side and densely villous-tomentose and whitish on the underside. Petiole short (4-8 mm long), villous-tomentose. Inflorescence corymbiform, with 3-12 flowers, on a short tomentose peduncle (2-3 mm). Calyx tomentose, greenish-whitish, with 5 small triangular sepals, 1-2 mm long. Corolla with 5 white petals, glabrous, suborbicular, about 3 mm long. Stamens numerous (about 20), with yellow anthers. Styles 2, shorter than the stamens. Fruit a fleshy pome, obovate or oblong, about 5-12 mm long, crowned by the persistent calyx, green with whitish tomentum at first, and finally red, with subpersistent tomentum. Seeds 2, located on the upper end, partially visible without opening the fruit.
Flowering:
May to June.
Fruiting:
September to October.
Habitat:
Forests and rocky areas on mountainous terrains (1,000-2,500 m altitude), calcareous or siliceous. In semiarid (then as vestigial, seeking refuge in wetter areas) to humid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean and supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Betic-magrebi. This is not a very common species in North Africa, but it appears in nearly every major mountain of the mediterranean area: in Morocco in the Rif, Middle Atlas, High Atlas, in Algeria in the Tellian Atlas, Saharan Atlas, Aures Massif and Tunisian Dorsal.
Conservation status:
Common species but with a limited distribution. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Tunisia it is included as C. racemiflora in its List of native species that are rare and threatened with extinction (Order of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources 19-July-2006).