Prunus jamasakura, the Japanese mountain cherry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae that is endemic to Japan.

Japanese mountain cherry[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Prunus
Subgenus: Prunus subg. Cerasus
Species:
P. jamasakura
Binomial name
Prunus jamasakura
Yamazakura, by Kawahara Keiga, 1820s, Siebold Collection, Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Taxonomy

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The species was first given a binomial by Philipp Franz von Siebold in 1830,[4][5]: 148  the specific epithet relating to the Japanese common name, Yama-zakura (ヤマザクラ, 山桜),[2] lit. the "mountain" or "wild cherry".[5]: 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[4][note 1]—there is no description, diagnosis, or reference to previous literature containing such, no illustration, and no mention of a type specimen,[5]: 148  his Prunus jamasakura being a nomen nudum[5]: 150  or seminudum.[6]: 278 

Tomitaro Makino first described the taxon in 1908, as Prunus pseudocerasus var. jamasakura.[7]: 93  Elevated to species rank (Prunus jamasakura) by Gen-ichi Koidzumi in 1911,[8]: 184  in 1992 Hideaki Ohba moved the mountain cherry to the genus Cerasus,[6]: 278  a treatment still followed by a number of authorities.[9][10][11] 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.[5]: 150 

Two varieties are recognized:[3]

  • Prunus jamasakura var. chikusiensis (Koidz.) Ohwi[12]: 76  (type locality: Tanegashima;[13]: 57  Tsukushi-yama-zakura (ツクシヤマザクラ)[6]: 278 )
  • Prunus jamasakura var. jamasakura (autonym)

Description

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Prunus jamasakura is a deciduous tree that grows to a height of 20–25 metres (66–82 ft).[9][10][14] 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."[8]: 185 [note 2] His description of the Tsukushi variety notes: "umbels with shorter peduncles, smaller bracts, and leaves' saw-teeth less aristate".[13]: 57 [note 3]

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

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The endemic[16] species occurs in the low mountains and secondary forests of Japan, from the Kantō region of Honshū to Shikoku and Kyūshū.[2][14] The Tsukushi variety is found on the islands surrounding Kyūshū, including Tsushima, Tanegashima, and the Tokara Islands.[3][14]

Conservation status

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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.[2]

Cultural significance

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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.[17][18] 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.[19]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Lignum exclusive in usum xylographorum versum, cortex pro diversis utensilibus ac fructus a pueris colliguntur."
  2. ^ "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."
  3. ^ "Umbellae pedunculis brevioribus, bracteis minoribus, foliorum serraturis brevius aristatis."

References

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  1. ^ Xian-Gui Yi; Jie Chen; Meng Li; Hong Zhu; Zhong-Shuai Sun; Toshio Katsuki; Xian-Rong Wang (2020) [Published online 13 December 2019]. "Complete chloroplast genome of the wild Japanese Mountain cherry (Prunus jamasakura, Rosaceae)". Mitochondrial DNA B Resources. 5 (1): 290–291. doi:10.1080/23802359.2019.1699463. PMC 7748705. PMID 33366524.
  2. ^ a b c d Oldfield, S. (2021). "Prunus jamasakura". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T173917565A173917817. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T173917565A173917817.en.
  3. ^ a b c "Prunus jamasakura (Makino) Siebold ex Koidz." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b von Siebold, Philipp Franz (1830). "Synopsis Plantarum Oeconomicarum universi regni Japonici". Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (in Latin). 12: 68.
  5. ^ a b c d e Ohba, Hideaki; Akiyama, Shinobu (22 November 2019). "The Lectotypification of Prunus jamasakura and Allied Native Species of Cerasus sect. Sargentiella in Japan (Rosaceae—Prunoideae)". Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series B (Botany). 45 (4). National Museum of Nature and Science: 147–164.
  6. ^ a b c Ohba, Hideaki (1992). "Japanese Cherry Trees under the Genus Cerasus (Rosaceae)". The Journal of Japanese Botany. 67 (5): 276–281. doi:10.51033/jjapbot.67_5_8728.
  7. ^ Makino, T. (1908). "Observations on the Flora of Japan. (Continued from p. 72.)". The Botanical Magazine (Tokyo). 22 (257): 93–102. doi:10.15281/jplantres1887.22.257_93.
  8. ^ a b Koidzumi, G. (1911). "Notes on Japanese Rosaceae. III". The Botanical Magazine (Tokyo). 25 (295): 183–188. doi:10.15281/jplantres1887.25.295_183.
  9. ^ a b Kunio, Kunio; Boufford, David Edward; Ohba, Hideaki, eds. (2001). Flora of Japan. Volume IIb: Angiospermae, Dicotyledoneae, Archichlamydeae(b). Tokyo: Kodansha. pp. 139–140. ISBN 4-06-154605-8.
  10. ^ a b Ohashi, Hiroyoshi; Kadota, Yuichi; Murata, Jin; Yonekura, Koji, eds. (2016). 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] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Heibonsha. pp. 67–68, pl. 48, 49. ISBN 978-4-582-53533-4.
  11. ^ Yonekura, Koji; Kajita, Tadashi. 植物和名ー学名インデックス [YList] (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  12. ^ Ohwi, J. (1953). "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"]. Bulletin of the National Science Museum (in Japanese). 33. National Science Museum: 66–90. doi:10.11501/2365780.
  13. ^ a b Koidzumi, Geniti (1918). "Contributiones ad Floram Asiae Orientalis". The Botanical Magazine (Tokyo) (in Latin). 32 (375): 53–63. doi:10.15281/jplantres1887.32.375_53.
  14. ^ a b c Ohwi, Jisaburo (1965). 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). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. p. 544.
  15. ^ Koike, Shinsuke; Kasai, Shinsuke; Yamazaki, Koji; Furubayashi, Kengo (March 2008). "Fruit phenology of Prunus jamasakura and the feeding habit of the Asiatic black bear as a seed disperser". Ecological Research. 23 (2): 385–392. Bibcode:2008EcoR...23..385K. doi:10.1007/s11284-007-0399-3.
  16. ^ Katō, M. [in Japanese]; Ebihara, A. [in Japanese] (March 2011). 日本の固有植物 [Endemic Plants of Japan] (in Japanese). Tokai University Press. pp. 77, 316. ISBN 978-4-486-01897-1.
  17. ^ Takuzō, Yamada [in Japanese]; Nakajima, Shintarõ (1995). 万葉植物事典「万葉植物を読む」 [Encyclopaedia of Man'yō Plants] (in Japanese). Hokuryukan. pp. 263–269. ISBN 4-8326-0374-4.
  18. ^ Katsuki, Toshio (2015). [Sakura] (in Japanese). Iwanami Shoten. pp. 86–95, 106, 166–168. ISBN 978-4004315346.
  19. ^ Aono, Yasuyuki (2014). "Cherry blossom phenological data since the seventeenth century for Edo (Tokyo), Japan, and their application to estimation of March temperatures". International Journal of Biometeorology. 59 (4): 427–435. doi:10.1007/s00484-014-0854-0. PMID 24899397.