- Yoshino cherry in Shinjuku Gyo-en.
- Yoshino cherry in Hitsujiyama park, Chichibu, Saitama.
- Yoshino cherry in Yoshimi, Saitama.
- Yoshino cherry
- Yoshino cherry
Prunus ×yedoensis | |
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Cherry tree in full bloom (Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rosaceae |
Genus: | Prunus |
Subgenus: | Prunus subg. Cerasus |
Species: | P. ×yedoensis |
Binomial name | |
Prunus ×yedoensis | |
Synonyms | |
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Prunus × yedoensis (synonym Cerasus × yedoensis) is a hybrid cherry tree between Prunus speciosa (Oshima cherry) as father plant and Prunus pendula f. ascendens (syn. Prunus itosakura, Prunus subhirtella var. ascendens, Edo higan) as mother. [1] [2] It is a hybrid born in Japan and one of its cultivars, Prunus × yedoensis 'Somei-yoshino' or Yoshino cherry (Japanese: 染井吉野 ソメイヨシノ Somei Yoshino), is one of the most popular and widely planted cherry cultivars in temperate regions around the world today. [3] [4] 'Somei-yoshino' is a clone from a single tree, and has been propagated by grafting all over the world. [5] [6] [7] 'Somei-yoshino' inherits Edo higan's quality of blooming before the leaves unfold and it growing into a large-sized tree. It also inherits the characteristics of the Oshima cherry, which grows rapidly and has white flowers. These characteristics are favored and have become one of the most popular cultivars of cherry trees. [8] [9]
One of the spots where P. × yedoensis grows wild is around Funabara Pass on the Izu Peninsula, which is close to the birthplace of its paternal species, Oshima cherry, and the wild P. × yedoensis in the area and the cultivar developed from it are called 'Funabara-yoshino'. [10]
On April 1, 2019, the Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Shimane University and Kyoto Prefectural University announced that they had decoded all the genetic information of 'Somei-Yoshino', and it was revealed that 'Somei-yoshino' descended from Edo higan and Oshima cherry, as is commonly believed. It was also revealed that the two ancestral species separated into different species 5.52 million years ago, and that 'Somei-yoshino' was born by hybridization over 100 years ago. [11] [12]
Although it was not recognized as a 'Somei-Yoshino' at the time of planting, the oldest verifiable record of a 'Somei-Yoshino' tree being planted is a record of its planting in the Koishikawa Botanical Garden in 1775. There are also existing 'Somei-Yoshino' trees planted in Koishikawa Botanical Garden in 1875, in Kaiseizan Park in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture in 1878, and in Hirosaki Castle in 1882, which are sometimes referred to as the oldest 'Somei-Yoshino' trees. [8] [13] As of 2019, the Tree Health Research Society, Japan has recognized the oldest surviving 'Somei-Yoshino' in Japan, the one on Kaiseizan Park planted in 1878, based on the results of radiocarbon dating and other scientific studies. [14]
In 1900, Yorinaga Fujino gave the Yoshino cherry the name Somei-yoshino after the famous place of cultivation, Somei village (current day Toshima) and famous place of Prunus jamasakura , Mount Yoshino. [15] In 1901, the Yoshino cherry was given the scientific name Prunus yedoensis by Jinzō Matsumura. [16] However, after Ernest Henry Wilson suggested Yoshino cherry is a hybrid between Prunus subhirtella var. ascendens (Edo higan) and Prunus lannesiana (Oshima cherry) in 1916, [17] Yoshino cherry came to be called Prunus × yedoensis. [18] As for the Korean native cherry called King cherry which was given a scientific name Prunus yedoensis var. nudiflora by a German botanist Bernhard Adalbert Emil Koehne in 1912 continues to be called Prunus yedoensis. [19] [20]
The Yoshino cherry has no scientific cultivar name because it is the original cultivar of this hybrid species Prunus × yedoensis. A new name, 'Somei-yoshino' is proposed in accordance with other cultivars of Prunus × yedoensis. [21]
Prunus × yedoensis is a small, deciduous tree that grows to be 5 to 12 meters (16–39 ft) (rarely 15 meters (49 ft)) tall at maturity. It grows well in hardiness zones 5–8, and does well in full sun and moist but well-drained soil. The leaves are alternately arranged, 6 to 15 centimeters (2.4–5.9 in) long and 4 to 7 centimeters (1.6–2.8 in) broad, with a serrated margin; they are often bronze-toned when newly emerged, becoming dark green by summer.
The flowers emerge before the leaves in early spring; they are fragrant, 3 to 3.5 centimeters (1.2–1.4 in) in diameter, with five white or pale pink petals. The flowers grow in clusters of five or six together.
The fruit, a small cherry, is a globose drupe 8 to 10 millimeters (0.31–0.39 in) in diameter; they are an important source of food for many small birds and mammals, including robins and thrushes. Although the fruit contain little flesh, it contains much concentrated red juice which can stain clothing and bricks. The fruit is only marginally sweet to the human palate. [3] [4]
With its fragrant, light pink flowers, manageable size, and elegant shape, the Yoshino cherry is often used as an ornamental tree. Many cultivars have been selected; notable examples include 'Akebono' (or 'America' in Japan), 'Ivensii', and 'Shidare Yoshino'. [3]
From the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period, gardeners and craftsman who made the village at Somei in Edo (now Komagome, Toshima ward, Tokyo) grew someiyoshino. They first offered them as Yoshinozakura, but in 1900, they were renamed someiyoshino by Dr. Fujino. [22] This is sometimes rendered as 'Somei-Yoshino'.
The Yoshino cherry was introduced to Europe and North America in 1902. [23] The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C., commemorating the 1912 gift of Japanese cherry trees from Tokyo to the city of Washington. They are planted in the Tidal Basin park. Several of 2,000 Japanese cherry trees given to the citizens of Toronto by the citizens of Tokyo in 1959 were planted in High Park. Pilgrim Hill in New York City's Central Park is popular for its groves of pale flowering Yoshino cherry trees as they burst into bloom in the spring. [24] [25]
Most studies show that Yoshino cherry ('Somei-yoshino') is a hybrid between Prunus speciosa (Oshima cherry) and Prunus pendula f. ascendens. (syn. Prunus itosakura, Prunus subhirtella var. ascendens, Edo higan).
Prunus × yedoensis has many cultivars other than 'Somei-yoshino' (Yoshino cherry). [28]
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy drupe.
Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs in the flowering plant family Rosaceae that includes plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, being native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and temperate and tropical regions of Asia and Africa, There are 340 accepted species. Many members of the genus are widely cultivated for their fruit and for decorative purposes. Prunus fruit are drupes, or stone fruits. The fleshy mesocarp surrounding the endocarp is edible while the endocarp itself forms a hard, inedible shell called the pyrena. This shell encloses the seed, which is edible in some species, but poisonous in many others. Besides being eaten off the hand, most Prunus fruit are also commonly used in processing, such as jam production, canning, drying, and the seeds for roasting.
Prunus cerasus is a species of Prunus in the subgenus Cerasus (cherries), native to much of Europe, North Africa and West Asia. It is closely related to the sweet cherry, but has a fruit that is more acidic. Its sour pulp is edible.
The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in Prunus subgenus Cerasus. "Sakura" usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of Prunus serrulata, not trees grown for their fruit. Cherry blossoms have been described as having a vanilla-like smell, which is mainly attributed to coumarin.
Hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; flowers in this case almost always refer to those of the cherry or, less frequently, plum trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around the second week of January on the island of Okinawa. The blossom forecast "cherry blossom front" is announced each year by the Japan Meteorological Agency, and is watched carefully by those planning hanami as the blossoms only last a week or two.
Prunus serrulata or Japanese cherry is a species of cherry tree that grows naturally in Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam, and it also refers to a cultivar produced from Prunus speciosa, a cherry tree endemic in Japan. Historically, the Japanese have developed many cultivars by selective breeding of cherry trees, which are produced by the complicated crossing of several wild species, and they are used for ornamental purposes all over the world. Of these, the cultivars produced by complex interspecific hybrids based on the Oshima cherry are also known as the Cerasus Sato-zakura Group.
Prunus speciosa, the Oshima cherry, Japanese オオシマザクラ, is native to Izu Ōshima island and the Izu Peninsula on Honshū near Tokyo, Japan.
Prunus itosakura is a wild species of cherry trees native to Japan, and is also the name given to the cultivars derived from this species. Itosakura means thread cherry, and appeared in historical documents from the Heian period in Japan. The scientific name for the hybrid between this species and Prunus incisa is Prunus × subhirtella. Historically, the Japanese have produced many cultivars from this wild species, and they are also called weeping cherry, autumn cherry, or winter-flowering cherry, because of the characteristics of each cultivar.
The Niigata Prefectural Botanical Garden is a 19.8 hectares botanical garden and arboretum located at 186 Kanazu, Akiha-ku, Niigata, Niigata, Japan. It is open daily except Mondays; an admission fee is charged.
Prunus jamasakura, the Japanese mountain cherry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae that is endemic to Japan.
Weeping trees are trees characterized by soft, limp twigs. This characterization may lead to a bent crown and pendulous branches that can cascade to the ground. While weepyness occurs in nature, most weeping trees are cultivars. Because of their shape, weeping trees are popular in landscaping; generally they need a lot of space and are solitary so that their effect is more pronounced. There are over a hundred different types of weeping trees. Some trees, such as the cherry, have a variety of weeping cultivars. There are currently around 550 weeping cultivars in 75 different genera, although many have now disappeared from cultivation.
The Miharu Takizakura is an ancient cherry tree in Miharu, Fukushima, in northern Japan. It is a weeping higan cherry and is over 1,000 years old.
The cherry blossom front is the advance of the cherry blossoms across Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency records the opening and full bloom of the blossoms from Kyūshū in late March to Hokkaidō in the middle of May. The advancing front is also the subject of regular reports by the major news agencies. The cherry blossom is of great public interest in Japan due to its symbolism and the custom of flower viewing known as hanami.
Prunus nipponica, also called Japanese alpine cherry, is a shrub which originates from the islands of Hokkaido and Honshu, Japan. It grows to a height of about 5 meters (16 ft) and can grow in sandy, loamy, and clay soils.
Prunus 'Kanzan' is a flowering cherry cultivar. It was developed in the Edo period in Japan as a result of multiple interspecific hybrids based on the Oshima cherry.
Prunus × nudiflora is a Korean native cherry tree originating from Jeju Island. It is a distinct species from Japanese native Yoshino cherry. King cherry is a rare plant and listed as an endangered species. As of April 2017, 194 king cherry trees were growing around Mt. Halla in Jeju Island. According to Gen-ichi Koidzumi, king cherry is erroneously believed to be discovered by a French missionary Émile Joseph Taquet although what he discovered was a different species.
Yo Takenaka was a Japanese plant geneticist and a Professor of Department of Cell Genetics, National Institute of Genetics. He is notable for researching the phylogenetic classification of cherry blossom. He discovered that Prunus × yedoensis is a crossbreed of two wild species of Japanese cherry; Prunus spachiana forma ascendens and Prunus speciosa by crossing experiments. He was also known as a researcher on Japanese morning glory and Nicotiana.
Prunus subg. Cerasus is a subgenus of Prunus. Species of the subgenus have a single winter bud per axil. The flowers are usually in small corymbs or umbels of several together, but some species have short racemes. The fruit is a drupe and has no obvious groove along the side. The subgenus is native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with two species in North America, four in Europe, two in North Africa, and the remainder in Asia.
In the present day, ornamental cherry blossom trees are distributed and cultivated worldwide. While flowering cherry trees were historically present in Europe, North America, and China, the practice of cultivating ornamental cherry trees was centered in Japan, and many of the cultivars planted worldwide, such as that of Prunus × yedoensis, have been developed from Japanese hybrids.
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(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Prunus × yedoensis (Matsum.) Masam. & Suzuki
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)I visited the (Quelpart) island in 1933 and observed that the tree, which was growing wild, showed differences from P. yedoensis; the hairs on calyx lobes and on the lower side of leaves were less numerous, and the peduncles were shorter. I concluded that it could not be P. yedoensis. I assumed that it might be a hybrid between P. subhirtella var. pendula form ascendens (Edo-higan) and P. quelpartensis (Tanna-Yamazakura; perhaps a form of P. verecunda) or some other cherry species
...此時以來ソメヰヨシノザクラは濟州島に自生すと誤り傳へられ,... ... されば現今ソメヰヨシノザクラの原産地は濟州島なり。...
natural hybridization either in the Izu peninsula, on Izu-oshima Island or on Cheju-do Island in Korea, although the possibility of the latter location was ruled out by Takenaka (1962)
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(help)(1991), 3:95−110While Edohigan is distributed in most areas of Japan, Oshima cherry (of the Yamazakura group) is an endemic species found around the Izu and Boso Peninsulas.
The wild flowering cherry Prunus lannesiana var. speciosa is highly geographically restricted, being confined to the Izu Islands and neighboring peninsulas in Japan
Media related to Prunus × yedoensis at Wikimedia Commons