Prunus × sieboldii (Carr.) Witttnack

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Prunus × sieboldii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/prunus/prunus-x-sieboldii/). Accessed 2024-10-05.

Genus

Common Names

  • Naden

Synonyms

  • Cerasus sieboldii Carr.
  • Cerasus pseudocerasus rosea plena Sieb. ex Verlot

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
herbarium
A collection of preserved plant specimens; also the building in which such specimens are housed.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.
acuminate
Narrowing gradually to a point.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
hybrid
Plant originating from the cross-fertilisation of genetically distinct individuals (e.g. two species or two subspecies).
peduncle
Stalk of inflorescence.
serrate
With saw-like teeth at edge. serrulate Minutely serrate.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Prunus × sieboldii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/prunus/prunus-x-sieboldii/). Accessed 2024-10-05.

A small deciduous tree attaining a height of 25 ft or so in Japan, with a vase-shaped crown and rather stout branches; branchlets glabrous (sometimes downy when young), greyish, darkening to iron-grey or purple. Leaves bronzy when unfolding, abruptly narrowed at the apex to an acuminate tip, rounded at the base, downy on both sides but more so beneath than above, margins shortly and mostly double-serrate. Flowers usually double or semi-double, white or pink; flower-stalks and peduncle downy, the latter variable in length from 38 to 1 in. or slightly more long. Calyx downy with entire lobes. Style hairy at the base.

P. × sieboldii is a somewhat variable hybrid, which arose in Japan. One parent is probably the Oshima cherry (P. speciosa); according to Ohwi, the other parent may be P. apetala (Fl. Japan (1965), p. 543). In Japan it is known as Naden or Musha-zakura. The name Takasago, generally used for it in Britain, was originally given by Miyoshi to a tree in the Kohoku Avenue (see p. 400), for which he could not find a name in the classical literature.

P. × sieboldii was introduced to Europe from Japan shortly before 1864. As represented in cultivation in this country it makes a small, rather slow-growing tree, bearing a profusion of semi-double, pale pink flowers rather early in the cherry season (around mid-April).

The cherry once grown as Cerasus watereri or P. pseudocerasus watereri belongs to P. × sieboldii, but judging from specimens in the Kew Herbarium it had considerably larger flowers than in other specimens, which may represent the original introduction by Siebold. In the form now cultivated as ‘Takasago’ the flowers have about twelve petals and are 112 to 134 in. wide.