Cotoneaster nepalensis

Cotoneaster nepalensis André, 95 1875 according to Fryer & Hylmo as per efi thread;
Cotoneaster nepalensis is recorded from H.P. and Uttaranachal as per efi thread;
 

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I have come across a third Cotoneaster sent by Krishan which does seem to fit, so kindly post the following. There is a grave accent over the e in Andre the author immediately below but I do not know how to add this – perhaps you do.:
The late Krishan Lal sent these images a few years ago. He thought this plant was Cotoneaster acuminatus but it is in fact Cotoneaster nepalensis Andre (syn. C.stracheyi G.Klotz).
It belongs to the Acuminati section, as does C.acuminata. 
Distributed from Himachal Pradesh to Uttarkhand and Nepal – though the species is not included in ‘The Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal’ Vol II (1979).
These images were taken at 3300m in Himachal Pradesh by Krishan but he did not say where.
Fryer in ‘Cotoneasters’ (2009) says this species was described in France in 1875 but overlooked for a century. it has been in cultivation since at least 1830 commonly but incorrectly under the name Cotoneaster acuminatus and reported to be commonly naturalised in Central Europe.
She says that Cotoneaster nepalensis is a beautiful sight with its large, shiny, drop-shaped fruit and yellow-gold leaves in the autumn sunshine.
A pity Krishan did not take photos showing the overall habit of this multi-stemmed shrub nor any of the habitat or the underside of the leaves (which are densely villous).  I urge all those who post images of plants to this site to not only take/send close-ups of fruits or flowers – photos of the rest of the plant are important. Sometimes without such images it is impossible to confirm which species a plant belongs to and often take those of us attempting to identify them, much longer.

In view of your remarks, Cotoneaster nepalensis Andr may have been wrongly shown as a synonym of Cotoneaster acuminatus Wall. ex Lindl. in The Plant List Ver.1.1  GRIN  Flora of China  Annotated checklist of Flowering plants of Nepal and Catalogue of Life

See my general comments within your inquiry about C.humilis.
The book has Cotoneaster nepalensis Andre as a separate species (syn. C.stracheyi G.Klotz).
Cotoneaster acuminatus Lindley.  There has been confusion between the two species.  Several descriptions of C.acuminatus are unfortunately based on C.nepalensis.
The two species are fairly easy to separate: C.nepalensis has fertile shoots 15-35mm, with 2-8 flowers whereas those of C.acuminatus are mostly 10-20 mm with single or paired flowers. There are other differences.
The latter species has been recorded from Nepal, Sikkim possibly also Pakistan.
C.nepalensis is recorded from Nepal, H.P. and Uttaranachal.
Perhaps, if you have any doubts, you could put “according to Fryer & Hylmo”?

Fwd: Cotoneaster nepalensis Andre in H.P. : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (4)
4 images taken by the Late Krishan Lal @ 3300m in H.P. (no location given) – thought to be Cotoneaster acuminatus.
C.nepalensis Andre is within is within Series Acuminati.
Recorded from H.P., Uttarakhand & Nepal.
Described in France in 1875, was over looked for over a hundred years. It has been in cultivation since at least 1830, commonly but incorrectly under the name C.acuminatus.  A mistake was made in an early description.
The TYPE specimen was collected in Nepal.

 

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Cotoneaster acuminatus. Photographed from near Narkanda.

Jeanette Fryer has DETERMINED this as Cotoneaster nepalensis Andre – this is the same Series ACUMINATI as C.acuminatus but a separate species – the two taxa have been mixed-up in the past.
Fryer states in her book on Cotoneasters under C.acuminatus that several descriptions of C.acuminatus are unfortunately based on C.nepalensis. The two species can be separated on the basis that C.nepalensis has fertile shoots 15-35mm with 2-8 flowers, whereas those of C.acuminatus are mostly 10-20 mm, with single or paired flowers.  According to the Cotoneaster book C.acuminatus is recorded from Nepal, Sikkim & Ladakh possible also Pakistan.  I cannot but wonder about Sikkim and Ladakh as a distribution?
The above image – there is only a single image with flowers not fully opened, no shots of undersides of leaves nor sterile shoots which makes it harder to reliably name – but clearly with more than 2 flowers.
Cotoneaster nepalensis is recorded from H.P. and Uttaranachal.
Please note that there is also C.parkeri, which is closely related to C.acuminatus.

Thanks … for getting the species determined from the expert. I’ll update my records accordingly.

References:
efi thread  Catalogue of Life (Cotoneaster acuminatus Lindl.)