Cotoneaster cornifolius Flinck & Hylmö; C. obscurus Rehder & E. H. Wilson var. cornifolius Rehder & E. H. Wilson.

Shrubs deciduous, to 3 m tall. Branchlets dark reddish brown, terete, initially densely yellow strigose, glabrescent. Petiole 2–4 mm, pubescent; stipules partly persistent, linear or lanceolate, 3–4 mm, pubescent; leaf blade elliptic, elliptic-ovate, or elliptic-obovate, (2–)3.5–8(–10) × (1.2–)1.5–3(–4.5) cm, veins prominently raised abaxially and impressed adaxially, abaxially initially pubescent, more densely so along veins, subglabrous when old, adaxially sparsely pubescent, glabrescent, base broadly cuneate or subrounded, apex acuminate or acute. Corymbs 3–7-flowered; rachis and pedicels pubescent; bracts linear, 2–3 mm, pubescent. Pedicel 3–4 mm. Flowers 7–8 mm. Hypanthium campanulate, abaxially pilose. Sepals triangular, 1.5–2 × 2–2.5 mm, apex acute. Petals erect, pink, obovate or suborbicular, 4–5 × 3–4 mm, base shortly clawed, apex obtuse. Stamens 15–17, shorter than petals. Ovary densely pilose apically; styles often 3, rarely 2–5, free, very short. Fruit black, subglobose, 8–9 mm in diam.; pyrenes 3 or 4, furrowed and shallowly pitted on back. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Sep–Oct. 2n = 68*.

Further study is necessary to determine the identity of Cotoneaster hsingshangensis J. Fryer & B. Hylmö, which might be synonymous with this taxon.

Thickets, dense forests, forest margins, near water courses, waste fields; 1400--3400 m. Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.