Cotoneaster orbicularis Schltdl.
Eng.: Cotoneaster. Spa.: Griñolera oriental. Fre.: Cotoneaster. Ara.: Shawhatt, akeran ifrakh, bu-mekherri, admam.
Shrub, 0.2-2 m in height. Stems highly branched, intricate. Branchlets sometimes spinescent at the apex when they are grazed by herbivores. Leaves 0.5-1.2(1.8) × 0.3-0.8 cm, orbicular to broadly elliptic, glabrous or glabrescent on the upper side, densely pubescent with white-greyish tomentum, and with prominent midrib on the underside; entire, with rounded apex, apiculate. Petiole 1-2 mm, pubescent. Flowers 2-5 grouped in axillary cymes, with 3-6 mm peduncles. Pedicels 0.5-1.5 mm. Calyx 3 mm, glabrous or glabrescent, with campanulate tube, lobes 0.5-1 mm, triangular, acute. Corolla 2 mm, suborbicular, white. Fruit 5-7 × 3-4 mm, pome, ovoid, pyriform or obconic, red, crowned by the persistent calyx.
Flowering:
April to May.
Fruiting:
May to July.
Habitat:
Rocky slopes, in cracks. In semiarid to humid bioclimate, on mesomediterranean and supramediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Eurasian species of the Arabian Peninsula (at least in Oman) and Caucasus (Armenia), with an isolated population in the mountains of southern Sinai Peninsula (Egypt).
Conservation status:
Rare species, with a small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Vulnerable”.