You sure its a pyracantha - they always have thorns.

Yes, definately. I bought it with the others and apart from no thorns it is exactly the same. ( I only noticed it was thornless after about a year when I pruned it.) I always thought it was just a bit of a dud as it never flowered or got berries but this year it has surprised me and produced identical flowers to the others and is now covered in berries....I wondered if it was to do with the cold winter we had?

I would agree with Bamboo and question whether your fourth plant is a pyracantha. Cotoneaster has similar leaves, flowers and berries and there are varieties which grow in a similar fashion to the pyracantha but they do not have thorns. I would take a sample complete with berries to your garden centre for a definitive answer. If you could post photographs of both Pyra and the 4th plant we might be able to give you more accurate advice.

Have added a photo of the plant in question...but I'm sure it's a Pyracantha..was really just wondering why it suddenly got berries this year when it's never had any before? Thanks for taking the time to look Bamboo and Scotsgran :-)

You're right, it is a Pyracantha, and having checked, there are a few modern thornless, or nearly thornless, varieties. It might just be that, as its a completely different variety, its growth habit and flowering/berrying habit is slightly different in that they have to be a bit older before they do it, possibly, something like that.

Thanks Bamboo. I think I must have picked up a wrongly labeled variety when I bought it because on closer inspection the leaves are ever so slightly lighter green than the others and a little longer. Interesting to know there are some nearly thornless varieties as I was beginning to think I had a mutant plant....although it is much easier to prune...the others are lethal. I'm now wondering if the berries will be the same vibrant red as the other plants...something to look forward to ....gardening is full of surprises!!!

There are certainly both red and orange berried thornless ones, from my quick look this morning.

There you go another pat on the back for GOYers. I certainly have learned a huge amount since coming on GOY and I look forward as much as you to seeing the colour of your berries. I found mention of one almost thornless Pyracantha waterii but I have not got any details on it at all.

Yes, it's great that there are so many people willing to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about gardening. I hope the berries are red but to be honest if this winter is as cold as the last one the birds will have it stripped bare within days.

I find these are the last berries the birds go for. I am never sure if like turnips they taste better after they have had some frost.

Hi. I'm from Serbia , ex YU country. Today I went to one of the local nurseries in my town. I was looking is there any interesting plants , since I'm into bonsai for several years.
There were , among other things , some interesting pyrachantas. In fact , they were only interesting plants for me. All of them were with same bark color and look of the bark , and with the same size and look of the leaves , and all , except one , had thorns. I was confused , so I asked people who work there what plant is this without thorns , because it was also cheaper than others. They told me it's pyracantha , but thornless species. I was skeptical about it , so i did one test , since all pyracahthas were growing in the same plastic pots. I measured thornless plant's trunk and some plant with thorns for which I thought was nearly the same diameter as thornless. I was right. Their trunks were differed in 1 mm. I'm still suspecting that thornless plant is younger plant of regular pypacantha , because of the habit that young plants don't have thorns , but on the other hand , they were all growing in the same pots , so they all should be the same age.
After longer thinking , at the end , I bought the plant with thorns , besause it had more interesting trunk movement , and I can shape it to look like a small tree (that's one of the good caracteristics of shrubs).

Welcome to Goy Solecar. Pyracantha is a popular choice for Bonsai. I hope you will show us a photograph of your creation as you train it.

I will do my best. Among the people in my circle , it's not so popular , maybe because it has thorns. Beside me , only one more bonsaist has a plant in training. At us in Serbia , we prefer local plants , such as Norwegian maple , Linden , Hornbeam , Cotoneaster , Privet , diferent types of junipers ...
I prefer more cotoneaster , but when I saw this pyracantha in the nursery , I just couldn't resist.

Solecar I did a blog on Bonsai in November 2012. You might find it interesting.

Give a link to the blog. I am working on my bonsai site , where I will put pictures of the plants I'm working on. There are also some texts , but it's all local caracter , and because of that , all texts are in serbian , but I will also write here something about developing of my plants in english. I hope it will be interesting for you.

http://www.growsonyou.com/scotsgran/blog/22193-bonsai

Thank you I will look forward to seeing your photos. Your provider may offer a translation service which can be used by non Serbian speakers.