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related helps one grasp the forms and names, and should be studied by anybody who wants to identify an unknown tree. To make the story complete, other Prunus species seen in Japan, such as plums, peaches, and the downy cherry, are mentioned briefly. Some of these play an important role in the history of the flowering cherry. We should also mention here that Ohba (1992b) made a persuasive proposal for separating cherries from plums on the generic level. Such a separation would result in thirty-three new names of Japanese flowering cherry species and intraspecific taxa under Cerasus. Chinese researchers already use Cerasus for cherries and are likely to be followed by the Japanese. All plums seen in Japan are native to China. They are distinguished by a flower stalk that is extremely short or almost absent. Flowers stand alone or in groups of two or rarely three. Fruits have a flattened stone with a furrow. Most often seen is Prunus mume Siebold & Zuccarini, which has been cultivated in Japan since the early centuries of the Christian Era. The fruits are quite astringent like the sloe and resemble small yellowish or green apricots. They are salted and eaten as pickles, are made into a good vinegar, or are used in making a plum liquor. Many varieties are in cultivation either for the flowers or the fruits, or for both. What is called Japanese plum in English and known botanically as Prunus salicina Lindley is closely related to the European P. domestica Linnaeus. It flowers a month or more after P. mume and bears its fruits on longer stalks. This "Japanese" plum is, in fact, a native Chinese plant, called sumomo ("vinegar peach") in Japan, where it has been cultivated since ancient times. The sweet Japanese apricot, known in Japanese as anzu and in Latin as Prunus armeniaca var. ansu Maximowicz, also is native to China but has been cultivated in Japan since times beyond memory. The peach, Prunus persica (Linnaeus) Batsch, is found in Japan in many cultivated forms with delicious juicy fruits. Its flowers range between white and an intensely deep pink color. Flowering peaches, called hanamomo, are popular garden plants in Japan. The cherry plums are distinguished from the plums (and peaches) proper. The three cherry plum species seen in Japan are native Chinese plants. The cherrylike fruits lack the furrow in the stone, and the leaves are rather short-stalked. The downy cherry, Prunus tomentosa Thunberg, has small, bright red cherries and very downy leaves. Prunus japonica Thunberg is a