Page 201
Amagi-yoshino was found by Y. Takenaka in 1959 among hybrids from his experiments to identify the parents of 'Somei-yoshino'. He named it after Mount Amagi, where hybridization between the Oshima cherry (Prunus serrulata var. speciosa) and the Edohigan cherry (P. pendula f. ascendens) is often seen in the wild. This valuable discovery has large, white petals, 2 cm or more, and blooms early and profusely. Ivensii started as a weeping seedling of Prunus Ă—yedoensis found by Hillier before 1929. It is an attractive dome-shaped shrub that flowers rather briefly but very floriferously on older plants. Some clonal selections exist. Sendai-shidare (Ohwi, 1973) is sometimes sold as ''Shidare Yoshino," which it somewhat resembles from a distance. 'Sendai-shidare', however, is
Figure 84 'Amagi-yoshino', a hybrid showing strong influence of its seed parent, the Oshima cherry (Prunus serrulata var. speciosa), such as twig color, flower, calyx, and sepals. The lesser influence of its pollen parent, the Edo-higan cherry (Prunus pendula f. ascendens), also shows, such as almost umbellate inflorescences, and some pubescence on calyx and pedicels. Photo by author, 30 March 1997, Kyoto * Botanic Garden.