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Figure 103 'Fudan-zakura', blossom. Photo by Arie Peterse, 28 April 1986, Wageningen Botanic Gardens of the Agricultural University, Netherlands.
pink, becoming white when completely opened. Flower 34 cm in diameter, opens to a flat plane. Petals five, ovate, emarginate at the top, 1317 Ă— 1213 mm. There is one pistil, perfect, 13 mm long, longer than the stamens. The calyx is campanulate, 7 Ă— 4 mm, with a distinct transition from pedicel to calyx. The calyx and the sepals show a darker purplishred shade than the pedicel. Sepals are elongated and triangular, 6 Ă— 3 mm. Flowering season is from late November (depending on the weather) to late April. 'Fugenzo' 'Fugenzo' is a historic cherry of classic beauty, a healthy and vigorous plant that has been a gardener's delight for one century in Western countries and five times as long in Japan. Five centuries means many generations, and many possible nursery clones. The 1822 catalog Hana-no-kagami (A paragon of flowers) shows four different types, including a red form that is even darker than the "Beni-fugen" in the same source. Several identity problems exist, as might be expected for a cherry with such a long history, and it took some study to straighten out the confusion. Our research on cherries of this type in Europe and Japan led to two conclusions: (1) 'Shirofugen' is an export name synonymous with 'Fugenzo', and (2) a related,