Cotoneaster microphyllus Wallich ex Lindley var. rotundifolius (Wallich ex Lindley) Wenzig, Linnaea 38: 195-196. 1874.

Cotoneaster microphyllus Wallich ex Lindley var. uva-ursi Lindley, Bot. Reg. 14: pl. 1187. 1828. Type: cultivated plant from John Miller, Nursery, Bristol, UK.

Cotoneaster uva-ursi (Lindley) G. Don, Hort. Brit. [Loudon] 480. 1830.

Shrubs, evergreen, to 4 m tall, with ± erect branches. Branchlets spreading, distichous or spiralled, grayish brown to blackish brown, terete, initially appressed villous, glabrous when old. Petiole 1–3 mm, pilose; stipules persistent or caducous, lanceolate, puberulous; leaf blade shiny, dark green adaxially, suborbicular to broadly ovate or broadly obovate, 0.8–2[–2.5] cm × 6–10[–16] mm, subleathery, midvein raised abaxially, impressed adaxially, abaxially pilose, adaxially glabrous, rarely puberulous, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex obtuse or emarginate, sometimes acute and mucronate. Inflorescences 1–3-flowered; bracts caducous, linear-lanceolate. Pedicel 2–4 mm, pubescent. Flowers ca. 1 cm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, abaxially pilose. Sepals triangular, apex acute. Petals spreading, white or tinged reddish, broadly ovate or obovate, 4–5 mm and nearly as broad, apex obtuse or emarginate. Stamens 20, ca. as long as or somewhat shorter than petals; anthers white. Styles 2 or 3, nearly equaling or lower than stamens. Fruit red to bright scarlet, obovoid to turbinate, 7–9 mm in diam.; nutlets 2 or 3(or 4). Fl. May–Jun(–Jul), fr. Aug–Sep(–Dec). 2n = 51, 68.

Grassy slopes, rocks, mountain summits; 1200–4000(–4300) m. Bhutan, China (W. Sichuan, S.E. Xizang/Tibet, N.W. Yunnan), India (incl. Sikkim), Kashmir, Nepal.

Specimens examined at A: E. Nepal: Sagarmantha Zone, Solukhumbu Distr., 9 Sept. 1985, H. Ohba, M. Wakabayashi, M. Suzuki, N. Kurosaki, K. R. Rajbhandari & S. K. Wu 8572479; E. Nepal: Sagarmantha Zone, Solukhumbu Distr., 21 Jul. 1995, F. Miyamoto, M. Amano, H. Ikeda, C. M. Joshi, K. Arai & T. Komatsu 9592061; E. Nepal: Sagarmantha Zone, Solukhumbu Distr., 26 Jul. 1995, F. Miyamoto, M. Amano, H. Ikeda, C. M. Joshi, K. Arai & T. Komatsu 9596156.

plant: height: 50-400 cm tall

stem: branchlet: color: black, brown, gray

stem: branchlet: indumentum: type: glabrescent, glabrous, villous

leaf: petiole: length: 1-3 mm

leaf: blade: shape: obovate, orbicular, ovate

leaf: blade: length: 0.8-2.5 cm long

leaf: blade: width: 0.6-1.6 cm wide

leaf: blade: length: width ratio: 1.3-2

leaf: texture: leathery

leaf: blade: abaxial surface: indumentum type: pilose

leaf: blade: adaxial surface: indumentum type: glabrous, puberulous

leaf: blade: base: cuneate, rounded

leaf: blade: apex: acute, emarginate, mucronate, obtuse

inflorescence: type: fascicled flowers, solitary flowers

petal: color: red, white

inflorescence: flowers: number: 1-3

petal: posture: spreading

pedicel: length: 2-4 mm

hypanthium: indumentum: type: pilose

stamens: number: 20

anthers: color: white

fruit: color: bright, red, scarlet

fruit: shape: obovoid, turbinate

fruit: diam.: 7-9 mm

nutlets: number: 2-4

flowering: May, Jun, Jul

fruiting: Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

distribution: elevation: 1200-4300 m