Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Cotoneaster

Peking Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster acutifolia) leaves turn such a wonderful, vibrant mix of colour in the fall. Photographed these at the Reader Rock Garden. This woody shrub was introduced from Asia and can be found everywhere, either individually or planted as a hedge. It readily escapes from gardens and can now be found in many of our natural areas, unfortunately. Beautiful to look at, but it is preventing our native plants from growing. This shrub should not be being sold at Garden Centres.

Peking Cotoneaster is a very invasive shrub, causing damage in all our parks. Unfortunately, the brilliant red leaves do look beautiful, especially here, where we don't have the amazing red Maple leaves which are seen out east. This particular shrub was growing at the Reader Rock Garden. "Introduced from Asia. A woody shrub, abundantly planted, individually or as a hedge, readily escaping into the wild. Stems, shrub, 1-3m tall. Leaves, alternate; small, oval, blunt pointed; turn brilliant red in autumn. Flowers, small, white; ........... Fruit, black berries, about 1cm across. Habitat: wooded areas, river banks, sunny slopes." From talkaboutwildlife.ca .

We saw these berries on a walk along the upper trail through the forest at Bowness Park yesterday afternoon. Not as sharp as it should have been, but I liked the colour of the berries. They are Cotoneaster fruit, but not the Peking Cotoneaster. Thanks, Val, for noticing the Great Horned Owl there!

The leaves of the Cotoneaster shrub turn such glorious colous in the fall. Most unfortunately, this introduced species from Asia has spread to all our natural areas and has become a serious problem, preventing native species from growing.

These are the woodlands at Bowness Park. The Cotoneaster bushes have turned the area into a sea of orange and red.

Our walk this morning was mainly to see the Douglas-fir trees in Bowness Park. The Cotoneaster bushes - VERY unwanted plants! - turn these glorious colours in fall. Too bad it's not a native species.

On my walk in North Glenmore Park yesterday afternoon, I kept coming across the bright splashes of orange made by Cotoneaster bushes. Unfortunately, Cotoneaster is spreading rapidly into natural areas, forcing out the native plants. Insects do not live on these introduced plant/bush species, so the more non-native plants/bushes that grow, the fewer insects there are for birds to feed their young. Consequently, we are losing more and more of our songbird species.

Please bear with me till fall is over! Won't be long now. Wherever I go, I come across the most glorious colours and just can't resist taking photos! Was at Bowness Park for four hours this afternoon, walking through the forest and then around the lagoon, where the reflections were beautiful. We even got to see a Maple tree in full glory, which I was so delighted about! Calgary is not a Maple city, so it was amazing to actually see a Maple (Silver Maple perhaps?). I brought home a few bright red leaves and was going to scan a couple but, my scanner doesn't want to work for some reason.

This is an introduced species, from Asia. It is abundantly planted, individually or as a hedge. It is very invasive, frequently escaping into the natural environment and creating a monoculture. It escapes to wooded areas, riverbanks and sunny slopes. In the fall, the leaves turn a beautiful orange and red, as seen here. Too bad that it is a plant that should be removed! Bohemian Waxwings eat the oval, black berries in winter.