Looks more like a broadleaf evergreen shrub than any sort of tree. Where are you located and where did the plant in question come from?

It could be some kind of cotoneaster but it's hard to tell for sure without flowers or fruit

Euonymous?

Dax

I could see it being cotoneaster too, but I would think it would have berries by now. I'm only familiar with the real small leaf arching form of cotoneaster that have leaves that are about a 1/2 an inch across and maybe 3/4" long.

Dax

I'm with cotoneaster, looks like C. acutifolia, Peking cotoneaster. (NOT a tree!)

This post was edited by hortster on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 18:08

Looks like some sort of a cotoneaster alright. I don't know the name.
Dax, you're probably thinking of cotoneaster dammeri or horizontalis. (Sp., my cat is on my book and I can't disturb her)
Mike

This post was edited by mikebotann on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 0:33

Yep, horizontalis. It's been too many years away from the nursery fields. That sure rang a loud bell.

Dax

Very interesting. Thanks everyone!

I see an awful lot of C horizontalis. It's extremely common here. C horizontalis has tiny leaves densely packed in a herringbone effect - smaller even than box and more rounded. The leaves on this shrub look too big, too shiny and too sparse to me. Unless the pot is minute and I've misunderstood the scale. I also don't think it's C dammeri, another very common one here. I'm not totally convinced it's a Cotoneaster at all in fact.

I wasn't implying the plant could be either horizontalis or dammeri. Just bringing up the similarity. It's a big family. Some are almost trees. Look at the one called Leatherleaf.
Horizontalis used to be used a lot around here, especially in large rock walls. I don't see it in the newer landscapes. They have dammeri and 'Low fast' used as a groundcover.
There's a Cotoneaster down the street that's a weed as far as I'm concerned. No ID. I pull seedlings from it quite often and I'm over a mile away. Birds.
Mike

I see, Mike. I thought the OP felt they had got a definite id when they wrote 'Very interesting. Thanks everyone!'

I've not come across a Leatherleaf Cotoneaster. Can you tell me the botanical name so I can look it up? C salicafolius, C frigidus 'Cornubia' and C lacteus are very common round here and all make a fair small tree. Plus there's any number of cultivars about.

Anyway - the upshot is the OP's plant could be a Cotoneaster but it's not one I recognise, though that isn't saying much, there are so many. It could even be C dammeri, although it doesn't seem quite right.

It looks as if the OP's plant is growing in the shade. That might account for lack of berries and larger leaves with greater spacing. It appears to be a rather low growing form.
Leatherleaf Cotoneaster is known a rhytidophyllum.
Cotoneaster henryana can get as high as 15 or 20 ft. (5 to 7 meters)
Here is an unknown variety growing next to a roadside ditch in front of an alpaca farm near me.
Mike

Still can't find a Cotoneaster rhytidophyllum, Mike. There's Viburnum rhytidophyllum aka Leatherleaf Viburnum. Does C rhytidophyllum have any synonyms I'm missing?

I'm not familiar with C henryana. Maybe it's another alternative name. Here's a nice Cotoneaster tree in the local park. The berries are just starting to colour.I think it's C frigidus 'Cornubia' but I couldn't swear to it. I apologise for my aged fuzzy camera. The Otto Luykens are about 5 feet tall for scale. I'll put up C horizontalis in the next post.

Cotoneaster horizontalis growing on top of a wall.

Back to the OP's picture .... Mike could be right that the plant is slightly atypical if it is in shade.

That's a nice 'tree' in your local park. I sometimes wonder why forms like that aren't more widely grown. I guess they grow too 'wide' for the average garden.
I have one horizontalis plant that was given to me in a pot. I'm wondering where to plant it.
Mike

That 'Cornubia' tree is gorgeous, I put that on my wishing list right away

That's an interesting picture, Mike. Your C horizontalis leaves seem less pointed than the one I showed. They seed around so possibly different forms are gradually developing in different parts of the world.