- Source: Prunus jamasakura
Prunus jamasakura, the Japanese mountain cherry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae that is endemic to Japan.
Taxonomy
The species was first given a binomial by Philipp Franz von Siebold in 1830,: 148 the specific epithet relating to the Japanese common name, Yama-zakura (ヤマザクラ, 山桜), lit. the "mountain" or "wild cherry".: 149 While Siebold alludes to the uses to which the tree has traditionally been put—its wood in woodblock printing, its bark in a range of crafts (kabazaiku), its fruit for consumption—there is no description, diagnosis, or reference to previous literature containing such, no illustration, and no mention of a type specimen,: 148 his Prunus jamasakura being a nomen nudum: 150 or seminudum.: 278
Tomitaro Makino first described the taxon in 1908, as Prunus pseudocerasus var. jamasakura.: 93 Elevated to species rank (Prunus jamasakura) by Gen-ichi Koidzumi in 1911,: 184 in 1992 Hideaki Ohba moved the mountain cherry to the genus Cerasus,: 278 a treatment still followed by a number of authorities. Ohba and Shinobu Akiyama suggest that Makino's var. jamasakura is a "superfluous name" and give the citation Cerasus jamasakura (Siebold ex Koidz.) H. Ohba.: 150
Two varieties are recognized:
Prunus jamasakura var. chikusiensis (Koidz.) Ohwi: 76 (type locality: Tanegashima;: 57 Tsukushi-yama-zakura (ツクシヤマザクラ): 278 )
Prunus jamasakura var. jamasakura (autonym)
Description
Prunus jamasakura is a deciduous tree that grows to a height of 20–25 metres (66–82 ft). Koidzumi's description is as follows: "a glabrous tree, more rarely pubescent. Elliptic leaves suddenly acuminate, sharply setaceo-serrated. Petioles arranged mostly towards the apex, with two glands. Coetaneous flowers very rarely subprecocious, corymbose or fascicled. Glabrous style.": 185 His description of the Tsukushi variety notes: "umbels with shorter peduncles, smaller bracts, and leaves' saw-teeth less aristate".: 57
A study of the impact of feeding upon the fruit by black bears noted their preference for ripe cherries (some 50–66 days after blossoming) and found no significant difference in the percentage of seeds that germinated compared with the control, suggesting their potential in dispersal.
Distribution
The endemic species occurs in the low mountains and secondary forests of Japan, from the Kantō region of Honshū to Shikoku and Kyūshū. The Tsukushi variety is found on the islands surrounding Kyūshū, including Tsushima, Tanegashima, and the Tokara Islands.
Conservation status
Prunus jamasakura is classed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, although the 2021 assessment notes a decline in the area and quality of its habitat.
Cultural significance
The mountain cherry, even if its historic circumscription hasn't always conformed with current taxonomic understanding and molecular phylogenetics, has inspired Japanese poets since the days of the Man'yōshū and long been the object of the practices of appreciation known as hanami. Records of its full blossoming and of viewing parties in Edo period diaries and chronicles are such that they have been drawn on more recently for the reconstruction of historic temperatures.
See also
Cherry blossom front
Prunus × yedoensis
Notes
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Kamakura
- Hakone, Kanagawa
- Saiki
- Shibayama, Chiba
- Susaki, Kōchi
- Prunus jamasakura
- Cherry blossom
- Prunus × yedoensis
- Prunus serrulata
- Aokigahara
- Hanami
- Prunus speciosa
- Hakone
- Yamatokōriyama
- Prunus subg. Cerasus
