Pyracantha koidzumii (Hayata) Rehder

Formosan Firethorn

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Formosan Firethorn is an introduced evergreen shrub in the Rose family (Rosaceae). It is native to Taiwan, and is one of the most widely cultivated species in the genus in Alabama. It persists or escapes around old home sites, along roadsides, on fence rows, and in disturbed woodlands. It is a large shrub reaching 15-20 feet in height. The stems are upright to arching with short, spine tipped lateral branches. The reddish-brown to gray bark is smooth initially, later flaking in plates. Young twigs are pubescent, becoming glabrous with age. Leaves are alternate or fascicled, short petiolate, narrowly elliptic to obovate in outline, and glabrous or glabrescent on the lower surface. The margins are entire or with 1-3 shallow teeth. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green, the lower surface is lighter green. The apex of the leaf is truncate (straight) or retuse (rounded with a small notch). Flowers are produced in corymbs. Individual flowers have 5 triangular green sepals, 5 white petals, and 15-20 stamens. The hypanthium is pubescent. The fruit is an orange or red pome with persistent incurved sepals at the apex. Formosan Firethorn is listed as an invasive species by The Invasive Plant Atlas of the United States.—A. Diamond

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Not Native

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