Cerasus apetala var. pilosa ("Okuchojizakura")

Japanese name: オクチョウジザクラ （奥丁字桜、奥丁子桜）
Scientific name: Cerasus apetala var. pilosa

[Overview]
A small deciduous tree about 4–7 m tall.
It is found in heavy-snow areas on the Sea of Japan side.
The trunk branches from the base, giving an umbrella-shaped crown.
The leaves are obovate to obovate-elliptic, 2.5–7.5 cm long and 1.5–3.5 cm wide, with a tail-like pointed tip and a rounded to obtuse base.
The leaf margin has double teeth with a spherical gland at the tip, making them round-headed to blunt.
The upper surface has sparse appressed hairs, and the veins of the underside are densely covered with spreading hairs.
The petiole has long, somewhat curly spreading hairs.
Two nectaries are borne on the upper part of the petiole.
It flowers at the same time as the leaves unfold or slightly earlier.
The flowers are borne 1–3 together, pointing downward, in umbels arising from the leaf axils; they are white to faintly pale pink, 5-petaled, and 1.8–2.4 cm across.
The petals are 8–11 mm long and longer than the stamens.
There are about 25 stamens, and the styles are usually hairless.
The calyx tube is narrowly cylindrical to tubular-bell-shaped, 8–11 mm long, slightly swollen at the base, and sparsely hairy or hairless.
The calyx lobes are triangular-ovate, 3–5 mm long, with entire margins.
The flower stalk is very short, and the secondary flower stalks are about 1.5 cm long with sparse spreading hairs.
The fruit is about 8 mm across and ripens black.
It can be distinguished from Choji-zakura by its somewhat larger flowers, the fewer hairs on the flower stalks and calyx tube, the usually hairless styles, and the entire-margined sepals.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by cuttings, or by grafting.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained place.
If it becomes a problem by growing into a large tree in a garden, it is good to limit the space available to the roots with a fabric pot to control the size of the tree.
While it is a young tree, protect it from frost by spreading straw around the base.
Also, it is better not to cut branches needlessly.
It suffers from many pests and diseases, so caution is needed.

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