Prunus jamasakura explained

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,[1] [2] the specific epithet relating to the Japanese common name,, lit. the "mountain" or "wild cherry".[2] 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[1] [3] —there is no description, diagnosis, or reference to previous literature containing such, no illustration, and no mention of a type specimen,[2] his Prunus jamasakura being a nomen nudum[2] or seminudum.[4]

Tomitaro Makino first described the taxon in 1908, as Prunus pseudocerasus var. jamasakura.[5] Elevated to species rank (Prunus jamasakura) by Gen-ichi Koidzumi in 1911,[6] in 1992 Hideaki Ohba moved the mountain cherry to the genus Cerasus,[4] a treatment still followed by a number of authorities.[7] 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.[2]

Two varieties are recognized:

Description

Prunus jamasakura is a deciduous tree that grows to a height of 20–.[10] [11] [12] 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."[6] [13] His description of the Tsukushi variety notes: "umbels with shorter peduncles, smaller bracts, and leaves' saw-teeth less aristate".[9] [14]

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.[15]

Distribution

The endemic[16] species occurs in the low mountains and secondary forests of Japan, from the Kantō region of Honshū to Shikoku and Kyūshū.[12] The Tsukushi variety is found on the islands surrounding Kyūshū, including Tsushima, Tanegashima, and the Tokara Islands.[12]

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.[17]

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.[18] [19] 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.[20]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Synopsis Plantarum Oeconomicarum universi regni Japonici . la . Philipp Franz . von Siebold . Philipp Franz von Siebold . Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen . 1830 . 12 . 68 .
  2. The Lectotypification of Prunus jamasakura and Allied Native Species of Cerasus sect. Sargentiella in Japan (Rosaceae—Prunoideae) . Hideaki . Ohba . Hideaki Ohba . Shinobu . Akiyama . Shinobu Akiyama . Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series B (Botany) . . 45 . 4 . 147–164 . 22 November 2019.
  3. "Lignum exclusive in usum xylographorum versum, cortex pro diversis utensilibus ac fructus a pueris colliguntur."
  4. Japanese Cherry Trees under the Genus Cerasus (Rosaceae) . Hideaki . Ohba . Hideaki Ohba . . 1992 . 67 . 5 . 276–281 . 10.51033/jjapbot.67_5_8728.
  5. Observations on the Flora of Japan. (Continued from p. 72.) . T. . Makino . Tomitaro Makino . . 1908 . 22 . 257 . 93–102 . 10.15281/jplantres1887.22.257_93.
  6. Notes on Japanese Rosaceae. III. . G. . Koidzumi . Gen-ichi Koidzumi . . 1911 . 25 . 295 . 183–188 . 10.15281/jplantres1887.25.295_183.
  7. Web site: http://ylist.info/ylist_detail_display.php?pass=18494 . ja:植物和名ー学名インデックス . YList . ja . Koji . Yonekura . Tadashi . Kajita . 19 April 2024.
  8. https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2365780 . ja:"日本植物誌"中に揭出せる植物の新学名及新組合せ . New Scientific Names and New Combinations of Plants that can be found in "Flora of Japan" . ja . J. . Ohwi . Jisaburo Ohwi . Bulletin of the National Science Museum . . 1953 . 33 . 66–90 . 10.11501/2365780.
  9. Contributiones ad Floram Asiae Orientalis . la . Geniti . Koidzumi . Gen-ichi Koidzumi . . 1918 . 32 . 375 . 53–63 . 10.15281/jplantres1887.32.375_53.
  10. Book: Flora of Japan. Volume IIb: Angiospermae, Dicotyledoneae, Archichlamydeae(b) . Kunio . Kunio . David Edward . Boufford . Hideaki . Ohba . Hideaki Ohba . 2001 . Kodansha . Tokyo . 4-06-154605-8 . 139–140.
  11. Book: ja:日本の野生植物 第3巻 バラ科—センダン科 . Wild Flowers of Japan. vol. 3: Rosaceae—Meliaceae . ja . Hiroyoshi . Ohashi . Hiroyoshi Ohashi . Yuichi . Kadota . Jin . Murata . Koji . Yonekura . 2016 . . Tokyo . 978-4-582-53533-4 . 67–68, pl. 48, 49.
  12. Book: Flora of Japan (in English). A combined, much revised, and extended translation by the author of his 日本植物誌 FLORA OF JAPAN (1953) and 日本植物誌シダ篇 FLORA OF JAPAN—PTERIDOPHYTA (1957) . Jisaburo . Ohwi . Jisaburo Ohwi . . . 1965 . 544.
  13. "Arbor glaber rarius pubescens. Folia elliptica subito acuminata, argute setaceo-serrulata. Petioli plerumque versus apicem glandulis duobus instructi. Flores coaetanei rarissime subprecociores, corymbosi vel fasciculati. Stylus glaber."
  14. "Umbellae pedunculis brevioribus, bracteis minoribus, foliorum serraturis brevius aristatis."
  15. Fruit phenology of Prunus jamasakura and the feeding habit of the Asiatic black bear as a seed disperser . Shinsuke . Koike . Shinsuke . Kasai . Koji . Yamazaki . Kengo . Furubayashi . Ecological Research . March 2008 . 23 . 2 . 385–392 . 10.1007/s11284-007-0399-3. 2008EcoR...23..385K .
  16. Book: ja:日本の固有植物 . Endemic Plants of Japan . ja . Katō, M. .

    ja:加藤雅啓

    . Ebihara, A. .

    ja:海老原淳

    . March 2011 . . 978-4-486-01897-1 . 77, 316.
  17. Oldfield, S. . 2021 . Prunus jamasakura . e.T173917565A173917817 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T173917565A173917817.en.
  18. Book: ja:万葉植物事典「万葉植物を読む」. Encyclopaedia of Man'yō Plants . ja . Yamada . Takuzō .

    ja:山田卓三

    . Shintarõ . Nakajima . 1995 . . 4-8326-0374-4 . 263–269.
  19. Book: ja:桜 . Sakura . ja . Toshio . Katsuki . 2015 . . 978-4004315346 . 86-95, 106, 166-168.
  20. Cherry blossom phenological data since the seventeenth century for Edo (Tokyo), Japan, and their application to estimation of March temperatures . Yasuyuki . Aono . . 2014 . 59 . 4 . 427–435 . 10.1007/s00484-014-0854-0 . 24899397.

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