Click on images to enlarge
habit in fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
spreading stems (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of leaves and mature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of seeds (Photo: Steve Hurst at USDA PLANTS Database)
Scientific Name
Cotoneaster horizontalis Decne.
Family
Malaceae (New South Wales)Rosaceae (Queensland, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia)
Common Names
fishbone cotoneaster, prostrate cotoneaster, rock cotoneaster, rock-spray cotoneaster, rockspray cotoneaster, wall cotoneaster
Origin
Native to eastern Asia (i.e. China, Taiwan and Nepal).
Naturalised Distribution
Sparingly naturalised in Victoria and south-eastern South Australia, and possibly also naturalised in New South Wales.
Also naturalised overseas in north-western USA (i.e. Washington and Oregon).
Notes
Prostrate cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria, and as a potential environmental weed in New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT. This species appears to have the potential to become an invasive weed in sub-alpine and alpine vegetation, particularly on rocky slopes, in south-eastern Australia. For example, it has already escaped gardens in the Mt Buffalo National Park, in the alpine region of northern Victoria, and spread to nearby alpine slopes.