Collecting Pyracantha -- is it diseased?

DEW

A nearby mall has granted my club permission to collect material from a large area they plan to re-landscape and I have my eye on a couple of pyracantha.

Background: We are in coastal Southern California (zone 9 - 10) with daytime temps in the mid-60s and night lows in mid- to upper-30s. All the pyracantha have abundant red berries and their leaves appear healthy.

I have several questions (which no one in my club can answer):

1. All the pyracanthas have been allowed to srpead virtually unpruned, which means I'll have to remove most of the foliage just to get them out of the ground. Can pyracantha
survive a severe pruning prior to transplanting? I understand that some broadleaf evergreens can be totally defoliated without killing them; is pyracantha in this category?

2. Some of the largest pyracantha have bark splits or galls at their bases with white powdery growth (looks a little like powdery mildew, but it's on the bark, not the leaves). Any guess at what this might be, how to treat it -- and should I even bother trying to collect the plant with it?

3. Also, some of the larger plants have large bumps on their branches. They are uneven shapes, but smooth barked, and there doesn't seem to be any open wound or seepage from them. Again, any guesses what this might be, treatment, and whether the plant should even be collected.

(I'd also ask whether the season is right for collecting, but we have no choice: collect now before the mall tears them out!)

Many thanks in advance for any help.

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