Cherry Laurels

What are they?

The five-petalled flowers and fleshy fruits are a good indicator that these plants are in the rose family (Rosaceae), along with apples, pears, plums, cherries and other similar species. Cotoneasters are a very variable bunch, from tree-sized plants right down to prostrate ground-huggers. Most cotoneasters are apomictic, a technical term which essentially means that plants generally self-pollinate, resulting in entire populations of plants that are clones of each other. Thus, although cotoneasters are common, hybrids between the species are rare.

Where are they found?

There are no native cotoneasters in our region, so all species are only likely to be found as strays from cultivation. Cotoneaster berries are popular with birds and the majority of plants that might be found tend to originate from seeds deposited by birds after they have eaten the berries. Thus, cotoneasters tend to be found mostly in urban areas, often growing from cracks in pavements, old walls and similar places. Old cemeteries also often hold bird-sown cotoneasters. Note that cotoneasters are far more common than the local floras suggest; perhaps people pass them by because they assume that they are too difficult to identify.

Identification

Astoundingly, around 100 Cotoneaster species have been reported at large in the UK! Fortunately, perhaps, we have a far smaller number in East Anglia, some of which have only been noted less than 10 times in the region. This all helps to narrow the possibilities, but cotoneasters can still be difficult to identify until the observer is more familiar with them. For a full identification, it may be necessary to make more than one visit to a plant, to obtain details of flowers, fruits, whether the plant is evergreen or deciduous and measurements of summer leaves.

Cherry Laurel Prunus laurocerasus

Uncommon, but occasionally found in old churchyards or scrubby areas close to habitation. Flowers June. A tall, multistemmed species that can attain tree size and may reach 10 metres or more in height. Leaves 6-20cm in length with veins not strongly impressed; flowers in large trusses, opening fully; fruits red (but sometimes yellow or orange in cultivated forms), rounded with a slightly flattened top. Plants are usually fully deciduous, but may be semi-evergreen in sheltered spots. One of the few non-apomictic species which has been crossed with Willow-leaved Cotoneaster to produce a range of hybrid, cultivated forms.