Authors: Dickoré, Wolf Bernhard; Kasperek, Gerwin

Source: Willdenowia - Annals of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Volume 40, Number 1, June 2010 , pp. 13-45(33)

Publisher: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem

Abstract:

Several alien species of the Eurasian genus Cotoneaster are naturalising in Central Europe, apparently increasingly so, and some on a massive scale. They presumably originate from large-scale cultivation for ground cover, hedges or as ornamental shrubs. The present paper keys and synopses the Cotoneaster species indigenous to, naturalising or commonly cultivated in Central Europe, on the basis of, relatively limited, both living (wild, adventive and cultivated) and herbarium material. An attempt is made to understand the nature of variation from the genus' centre of diversification, the mountains of China and the Himalayas, which are likewise the origin of most cultivated and naturalising Cotoneaster species. Taxonomic and nomenclatural problems, putatively relating to the presence of apomixis and hybridization in the genus, are discussed. Many of the more than 500 published binomials, including a substantial proportion of those based on cultivated material, seem to be poorly defined, both morphologically and chorologically. Of an estimated total of only 50-70 Cotoneaster species worldwide, about 20, mainly chinese species have been found escaping from cultivation in Central Europe. Presently, about ten species must be considered fully naturalised and, locally at least, invasive.

References: 95 references open in new window

Articles that cite this article?

Keywords: TAXONOMY; ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS; ALIEN PLANTS; ADVENTIVES; NEOPHYTES; CHINA

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3372/wi.40.40102

Publication date: 2010-06-01

More about this publication?

• Willdenowia is a peer-reviewed botanical journal with an international authorship, publishing original research papers in English from the entire fields of plant, algal and fungal taxonomy and systematics, also covering related fields. Its precursor was founded in 1895 as Notizblatt des Königlichen Botanischen Gartens und Museums zu Berlin and 1954 continued with its present title commemorating Carl Ludwig Willdenow, 1765-1812, director of the Botanic Garden, first professor of botany in Berlin and author of the fourth edition of Linne's Species Plantarum. Willdenowia appears in two issues per year in a print edition and an open access online edition.
• Information for Authors
• Submit a Paper
• Subscribe to this Title
• Willdenowia (and precursors) electronic back issues (1895-1995) have been released in 2007.
• ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Biology/Life Sciences ,  Biology ,  Botany
• By this author: Dickoré, Wolf Bernhard ;  Kasperek, Gerwin

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers