Flora of North America species comparison

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Pyracantha fortuneana

Chinese firethorn
Habit Plants 10–30 dm.
Stems

thorns sparse to abundant;

young twigs rusty-hairy (gray-hairy in 1 variation), glabrescent.
Leaves

stipules 3–8 mm;

petiole 2–5 mm;

blade oblanceolate or obovate, 1.5–6 × 0.5–2.5 cm, base cuneate, margins remotely serrulate or crenulate, often entire proximally, apex obtuse, emarginate, or short-apiculate, surfaces glabrate.
Inflorescences

3–4 cm diam.
Pedicels

2–8 mm, usually glabrate, rarely sparsely appressed brown- or gray-hairy.
Flowers

4–12 mm diam.;

hypanthium glabrate, rarely slightly hairy;

sepals triangular, 1–1.5 mm, apex obtuse;

petals suborbiculate, 3–4 mm, apex rounded.
Pomes

orange-red to dark red, 3–6 mm diam.;

pedicels 2–10 mm.
2n

= 34 (China).

Pyracantha fortuneana
Phenology Flowering Feb–May; fruiting Sep–Mar.
Habitat Disturbed ground, roadsides, canyons, woodland edges, open forests, riparian areas
Elevation 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CA; FL; GA; LA; NC; OR; SC; TX; WA; Asia (China) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe (England), Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Pyracantha fortuneana is native to central and western China. It is variable in the amount of toothing on the leaf blades and color of the hairs on new growth. Plants having grayish hairs on young twigs rather than the usual rusty or brownish hairs have been attributed to the taxon P. rogersiana, which has also been interpreted as a variety of P. crenulata. It is insufficiently distinct to separate from P. fortuneana among the specimens examined.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 469.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Pyracantha
Sibling taxa
P. angustifolia, P. atalantioides, P. coccinea, P. crenulata, P. koidzumii
Synonyms Photinia fortuneana, P. crenatoserrata, P. crenulata var. rogersiana, P. rogersiana, P. yunnanensis
Name authority (Maximowicz) H. L. Li: J. Arnold Arbor. 25: 420. (1944)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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