Japanese Flowering Cherries by Wybe Kuitert (free)

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bud and quickly expand to "a lovely malmaison pink" set together in multi-flowered bunches, usually at the end of the twigs. The medium-sized flowers have short peduncles. The young foliage is bronze to brown-green; developed leaves are glabrous and have a silken texture. Flowering occurs in the second half of April. Miyoshi (1916) spoke of twelve to fifteen sturdy petals, but Ingram mistakenly spoke of single flowers. Toemon * Sano IV, who grew the tree when his book appeared in 1961, adds that the dark brown foliage is barely out at the time of the blossoming, that the flower has about thirteen petals which are divided in two at the top, and that the pistil is slightly longer than the stamens. Sano's illustrator shows 'Oshokun', though not very detailed, as a cherry with flowers of a rather intense pink that is less intense than 'Kanzan' and resembles 'Fukurokuju'. Sepals are not serrated in this picture and are, like the calyx and pedicel, green. Flowers are borne on a thick twig. Adding this to the relevant details of Miyoshi's original description, 'Oshokun' is described as below. Prunus 'Oshokun' Less current synonym: Prunus serrulata f. conspicua Description: Tree small, with a flattened crown. Young foliage dark brown to brownish green, barely out in the blossoming season. Mature leaves 10 × 6.5 cm with a tip of 2.5 cm. Serration single with finely tipped teeth. Corymbose inflorescence, with three to five flowers. Peduncles 1.3 cm long. Pedicels 1.51.8 cm long. Corymb about 4.5 cm long. Calyx 6 × 4 mm, green. Sepals 6 × 4, green, unserrated. Flower diameter about 4 cm. Petals about sixteen, 18 × 16 mm, in two tiersan outer red tier and an inner reddish tier, bifid at the apex. Flower in bud red, conical, obovate. Pistil longer than the longest stamens. Flowering season is late April. 'Pink Perfection' 'Pink Perfection' is a prudish name compared to the rich poetic names of other Japanese cherries, but it applies perfectly to the pink flowers of this cultivar. When only some of the flowers are out among the red buds, the pure pink blossom shows to utmost advantage. Among the old garden forms, only 'Daikoku' can match this perfect pink. 'Pink Perfection' was secured by the British nursery of Waterer Sons and Crisp in 1935. It was a seedling of 'Shogetsu', and the pollen parent is like-


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