Botanical atlas

Common Cotoneaster

Cotoneaster integerrimus

Cotoneaster integerrimus has never held a real place in the herbalist's cabinet, and that absence is worth stating plainly rather than dressing up. Its true legacy is as a hardscrabble mountain shrub, planted along banks and stone walls across Europe to hold soil in place and to give shelter and berries to birds through the leanest months. Old hedgerow traditions favored it for exactly the qualities that make it a poor medicine plant and a fine garden one: unfussy roots, a wiry structure that shrugs off wind and drought, and fruit that ripens bright red just as the rest of the garden is going quiet. Think of it as a plant valued for what it does in the landscape, not for what it treats in the body.

Safety.

Cotoneaster berries contain cyanogenic glycosides, the same class of compound found in apple seeds and cherry pits, and eating them can cause nausea, vomiting, and stomach upset in people and pets. No part of this plant should be eaten; if a child, adult, or pet eats the berries, contact poison control or a veterinarian promptly.