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There is one pistil, perfect, about 15 mm long, as long as the stamens. The calyx is campanulate (to funnel-shaped), about 6 Ă— 3 mm, green with a reddish shade; there is a distinct transition from pedicel to calyx. Sepals are elongated and triangular, slightly narrowing again at the base, about 8 Ă— 2 mm, often with a few teeth; reddish shade. Many fruits. Flowering season is mid-April. 'Ariake' The Japanese word ariake referred in ancient days to the rare sight of an early morning sunrise while a full moon was still visible. On such a morning the color of the moon changes, with the fading of the reddish twilight, from pinkish to pure white after the sun has risen over the horizon. In modern Japanese ariake simply means ''daybreak," but the older meaning associates poetically with the color change that flowers of 'Ariake' undergo during expanding and with their open "moonlike" shape. 'Ariake' has been known in Japan for at least three centuries; it appeared as far back as 1681 in the horticultural treatise (Flower bed catalog). It appears in lists of collections ever since and was exported by Japanese nurseries at the beginning of the twentieth century. The continuous string of records makes it likely that we are dealing with the same cherry 'Ariake' now as the one of 1681. It is a good garden plant likely to have survived centuries of garden criticism. Miyoshi described it in 1916 as Prunus serrulata f. candida. In Japan one finds it as P. lannesiana 'Candida'. The buds of 'Ariake' have a slight pinkish hue, which still lingerslike the daybreak moonwhen opening. When expanded completely, however, the petals turn to an almost pure white. This daybreak-moon coloring is seen with other cherries also and is not typical only of 'Ariake'. Most flowers are single, but some have more petals and might be even called semidouble. The petals give a waxy, sturdy impression and have wrinkled undulations in the surface. This is typical of cherries that are considered to be related to 'Mazakura', a common rootstock in Japan (Kawasaki 1994). Fully developed flowers may be 5.5 cm in diameter; those with only five petals resemble blackberry flowers or white, single-flowered roses. The inflorescences are robust with sturdy peduncles that resemble those of 'Shirotae'. The latter though, has a more spreading, almost level tree shape, and