Japanese Flowering Cherries by Wybe Kuitert (free)

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orange-bronze foliage. Only when trees grow (very) old does the foliage tend to come out later than usual in relation to the blossom, and even a trained observer is easily confused in these situations. In colder climates, foliage of some cherries might be later. Cherry leaves have their particularities that are of help when classifying a tree. The color is characteristic with young foliage, but the same problem arises as with the flowers. Again color differs with season, with changes in the weather, and with the rootstock. Differences in color, nonetheless, can be quite striking, and with some precautions leaf color is a useful key. The early leaves, just at the moment when they unfold, show distinctively different colors on the inside of the leaf blade. This is the color mentioned in the descriptions of the cultivars. As many cherries unfold their leaves with the blossom, one can often examine the colors of both at the same time. Late-flowering cherries such as 'Fugenzo' already have developed leaves when flowering, and so in this case we have described the color of young foliage at the tip of a fresh shoot. Again the RHS Colour Chart proved helpful in defining colors exactly. They vary from yellow-green, green, or bronzelike (RHS 153-A, 152-A to 152-D, 144-A) to brown or red-brown (RHS 166-A to 166-C, 173 to 176, 199-A to 199-C). The colors are named in the descriptions to assist readers not having access to the RHS Colour Chart. Freshly developed foliage in the greenish range often shows a bronze hue. Dark redbrown sprouts always expand to mature leaves that are darker green than the average but no longer red. 'Kanzan', for example, puts forth brownish shoots, and the leaves are already dark green when the flowers are in their prime. Therefore foliage color is only useful as an identification key if one has formed an idea of the full range that it may show during the developing of the leaves. The underside of the leaf can be glaucous (whitish) as with the Japanese mountain cherry (Prunus serrulata var. spontanea) and garden forms such as 'Ichihara-tora-no-o'. It is less outspoken with such cherries as 'Raikoji-kiku-zakura' and 'Baigoji-juzukake-zakura' and always best perceived in dried and pressed leaves of a herbarium specimen. Fine autumn colors can be found with many Japanese flowering cherries. The splendor of Prunus sargentii is well known and 'Sunset Boulevard' was even selected because of this. Among the forms of P. serrulata, 'Shirotae' shows gold-yellowish fall tints, 'Ojochin' bright orange and red, and 'Ukon'


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