This tree is in my back yard on SFU campus I have searched on BC gov site and found no matches. I am thinking it is not an indigenous species. It is November and the leaves are green and still on. The wood is hard and fruity. Thanks in advance
Cotoneaster species belonging to Series Salicifolii. There are 8 species distinguished from one another by details of the leaf structure and so forth.
That is it! Does anyone know any traditional uses for the tree? It is a pretty dense wood, which makes me think it must be good for something. Thanks alot!
Flora of China http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200010777 doesn't mention any. It often does mention known uses, but not always. To find out for certain, you'd need to visit the plant's native areas in China and ask around.
Plants cultivated as forms of willowleaf cotoneaster (Cotoneaster salicifolius) are rather prevalent in nurseries in this region. Some spontaneous sprouting of seedlings in and near local plantings is seen. But multiple species of the genus in western cultivation have been determined by more recent workers to be passing under the wrong species names. So I'm not willing to state based on your picture only that you have any particular one of the 8 species belonging to Section Salicifolii. Or that the willowleaf cotoneasters being grown and sold here all belong to that particular species and not one of the 7 others. It should be noted that the only one of these 8 that is listed as growing wild by Jacobson, Wild Plants of Greater Seattle - Second Edition (2008) is C. salicifolius.