Pyracantha coccinea is medium-sized to large-sized ornamental shrub, species form matures at about 15' tall by 15' wide, but cultivars are usually smaller, and most shrubs are frequently pruned to smaller dimensions anyway. Upright oval growth habit in youth, becoming open, straggly, and spreading with age. Pyracantha prefers moist, well-drained soils in full sun, but is very urban tolerant and adaptable to poor soils, compacted soils, soils of various pH, heat, drought, and heavy pruning, propagated by seeds or rooted stem cuttings.
Best time to prune vigorously growing specimens or espaliers is either right after bloom (to set up flower buds and fruits for the following year) or in autumn or early spring - to gain firm control with heavy pruning, and fore go flowering and fruiting for an entire year.

Foliage is dark green, broadleaf evergreen to semi-evergreen, and becoming unattractively bronzed in Winter, sometimes "burning" in exposed areas and turning dead-brown.
Flowers are white, somewhat malodorous, in late May to early June, as flat-topped to slightly curving 2" to 3" diameter inflorescences, derived from floral buds on the previous year's spur shoots.

Fruits are orange, orange-red, or yellow, depending upon cultivar. In the raw state are not for human consumption but can be processed into jams, syrups, jelly and compote (as hawthornes). Heaviest ornamental fruiting occurs on unpruned shrubs of scab-resistant cultivars sited in full sun, and can be quite outstanding in early Autumn when contrasted against the dark green foliage. Maturing in September as pendulous clusters from the numerous spur shoots, and usually persistent only into late Autumn, before abscission or being eaten by wildlife.