Scarlet firethorn, buisson ardent

Mespilus pyracantha Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 478. 1753

Plants: ˂crowns spreading˃, 10–60 dm. Stems: young twigs gray-hairy, glabrescent later. Leaves: stipules 4–8 mm; petiole 2–5 mm; blade elliptic or ovate to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2–4 × 0.7–1.5 cm, base cuneate, margins finely crenulate-serrulate, apex acute, rarely obtuse, abaxial surface slightly hairy when young, glabrescent, adaxial glabrous. Inflorescences 3–4 cm diam.; ˂bracteoles in distal axils 4–10 × 3–4 mm˃. Pedicels 3–10 mm, with coarse pale hairs. Flowers 6–8 mm diam.; hypanthium finely hairy; sepals triangular, 1.5–2 mm, apex acute; petals suborbiculate, 3–5 mm, apex rounded. Pomes bright red, 5–8 mm diam.; pedicels 5–12 mm. 2n = 34 (Europe).

Flowering Mar–May; fruiting Aug–Jan. Mixed conifer forests, disturbed ground, fields, thickets, roadsides; 0–1500 m; introduced; B.C., Ont.; Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Ga., Ind., Kans., La., Miss., Mo., N.Mex., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Utah, Va., Wash.; s Europe; w Asia; introduced also in w Europe (England), e Asia (Japan), Africa (South Africa), Australia.

Pyracantha coccinea has been extensively planted throughout most of temperate North America. The species is native from southern Europe east to the Caucasus and western Asia.