Mespilus purpurea Poiret; M. sanguinea Spach.

Shrubs or rarely small trees, deciduous, 2–4 m tall, usually thorny; thorns ca. 1 cm, sometimes absent. Branchlets purplish brown when young, grayish brown when old, terete, sparsely pubescent when young, soon glabrous; buds purplish brown, triangular-ovoid, glabrous. Stipules falcate or irregularly cordate, 5–7 mm, herbaceous, glabrous, margin serrate, apex acute; petiole 1.5–2 cm, subglabrous; leaf blade broadly ovate or rhombic-ovate, 5–6 × 3.5–4.5 cm, abaxially sparsely pubescent along veins, adaxially pubescent, base cuneate, margin doubly serrate, with (2 or)3–5 pairs of shallow lobes, apex acute. Corymb 2–3 cm in diam., many flowered; peduncle glabrous, subglabrous; bracts caducous, linear, membranous. Pedicel 5–6 mm, glabrous or subglabrous. Flowers ca. 8 mm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, glabrous. Sepals triangular-ovate, ca. 4 mm, abaxially sparsely pubescent. Petals white, oblong, 5–6 mm. Stamens 20. Ovary pubescent apically, 3–5-loculed, with 2 ovules per locule; styles 3(–5). Pome red, subglobose, ca. 1 cm in diam., glabrous; sepals persistent, reflexed; pyrenes 3, rarely 5, with concave scars on both inner sides. Fl. May–Jun, fr. Jul–Aug. 2n = 51*, 68*.

Slopes, mixed river side forests; 900--3000 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Nei Mongol, Xinjiang [N Mongolia, Russia (Siberia)].