Cotoneaster franchetii Bois, Franchet's Cotoneaster
Account Summary
Garden escape, very rare.
December 2001; Northridge, R.H.; roadside, Carrickreagh Bay, Lower Lough Erne.
The solitary Fermanagh find detailed above occurred, bird-sown in a roadside situation. From the evidence of other Irish records, this evergreen 3 m tall shrub tends to grow on rock faces, rubble, walls or roadsides, all generally dry soil situations. It has been recorded in seven other Irish VCs widely scattered across the island, all finds dating post-1968 (Cat Alien Pl Ir). C. franchetii is a native of SW China, Tibet and Burma. It is much more frequently and widely recorded in Britain than in Ireland.
Threats
Potentially this neophyte could become a nuisance if it invaded a nature reserve, but generally, it is too infrequent to pose any real threat to native species.