Pyracantha crenatoserrata seed

LATIN NAME: PYRACANTHA CRENATOSERRATA

COMMON NAME: Firethorn

The firethorn embers the evergreen, thorny, arching shrub with the small, glossy, toothed leaves and the dense clusters of the small, white flowers that open through the early summer, the masses of the small, round, red to orange berries following and ripening through the autumn, the berries embering along the branches and holding into the winter. The shrub grows into the dense, spiny thicket, and it stands the cold and the dry spells well. It likes the sun, and the well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The winter berry display of the firethorn gives it a recognised place in the research on the evergreen berrying shrubs of the rose family, and the crenatoserrata species appears in the studies of the berry-holding habit and the wall-climbing growth. The work looks at the fruit chemistry, the thorny thicket shelter, and the seed biology. The winter food for the birds keeps the ecologists interested, and the growers of the wall and hedge shrubs keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the sunny wall and the hedge, the firethorn embers the autumn wall with the red berries. The berries feed the birds through the cold months, the thorny thicket shelters the nests, and the evergreen cover clothes the wall and the boundary. It grows well in the well-drained, sunny ground. Ember-berried, thorny and bird-sheltering.

To grow the Firethorn from seed, mix the seeds with the damp sand and chill them through the winter, then sow them into the gritty drills of the seedbed, keep the seedbed cool and lightly moist, and the young plants wake in the spring.

Keep the seedbed cool and lightly moist, and pot the seedlings on as they grow. The ember berries come within a season or two. Stand the young shrubs against the sunny wall, and the ember berries will glow through the autumn.

It is a great medium – large sized evergreen shrub or climber with spiny branches that bare simple leathery dark green leaves. Ideal for a spot in the middle or back of the border, as part of an evergreen prickly hedge or trained as a climber up trellises, walls or other structures. It does well in well drained but moist sites in full sun, but is quite tolerant of other soil types, sites and moisture. It grows to around 4m (12′) high and across, though often stay far smaller and are easily pruned as a medium shrub. It produces corymbs of pretty small white flowers in Spring through to mid-Summer. Followed by bright Orange berries which last right through winter. The berries are bitter and inedible raw but can be made into jams, jellies, preserves and sauces. Long season of  interest, great for pollinators and birds!