Cotoneaster dielsianus Pritz.

A deciduous shrub 6 ft, perhaps more, high, with long, extremely slender, arching or quite pendulous branches; branchlets downy when young. Leaves 1⁄2 to 11⁄2 in. long, 3⁄8 to 1 in. wide, ovate; hairy above when young, covered beneath with felt, at first white afterwards pale brown; veins prominent. Flowers pinkish, three to seven in a cluster, terminating side shoots 1 in. or so long; calyx and flower-stalk hairy, calyx lobes shallowly triangular. Fruit scarlet, round or rather pear-shaped, 1⁄4 in. long; nutlets three or four.

Native of Central China; introduced for Messrs Veitch by Wilson in 1900. It flowers in June, and the fruit is in full colour in September and October; it is then one of the most effective of cotoneasters. The habit is singularly graceful, the long whip-like shoots spreading outwards and downwards in every direction. Duthie’s name C. applanatus refers to the distichous arrangement of the branches of young plants, which gives them the appearance of a wall-trained tree.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

This species is one of the best cotoneasters for autumn colour, as well as for its fruits.