Cerasus incisa var. bukosanensis ("Bukomamezakura")

Japanese name: ブコウマメザクラ （武甲豆桜）
Scientific name: Cerasus incisa var. bukosanensis

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub to small tree.
It is common on rocky, gravelly ground.
The trunk branches from the base, giving an umbrella-shaped crown, and the branches are slightly thicker than those of Mame-zakura.
The bark is purplish brown, irregularly and shallowly cracked, and dotted with lenticels arranged horizontally.
Young branches are zigzag.
The leaves are rounder and thicker than those of Mame-zakura, obovate to ovate, 5–8 cm long and 3–4 cm wide.
The leaf tip is long and tail-like, and the base is rounded.
The leaf margin has doubly serrate, incised teeth with slightly rounded tips.
The leaves are hairless on both sides except for the midrib on the upper surface and the margin.
The petiole is usually hairless but sometimes has ascending hairs.
Two nectar glands are borne at the base of the leaf.
The flowers open at the same time as the leaves unfold, or slightly earlier.
The flowers are borne two per umbel in the leaf axils, hanging downward; they are pale pink with 5 petals.
The petals are about 1 cm long.
There are about 38 stamens, shorter than the style.
The calyx tube is cylindrical, 8–10 mm long, and the calyx lobes are ovate-elliptic with entire margins and spread almost flat when the flower opens.
Both the calyx tube and the calyx lobes are tinged deep crimson.
The flower stalk is very short, and the pedicel is 8 mm long, usually with ascending hairs, though some are hairless.
The fruit ripens black.

[History]
It was published in 1937 by Honda Masatsugu as a variety of Takane-zakura under the name Buko-takane-zakura, and in 1953 Hara Hiroshi reclassified it as a variety of Mame-zakura, and the standard Japanese name was also changed.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by cuttings, or by grafting.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained site.
If it grows into a large tree in a garden and becomes a problem, it is good to control the size of the tree by restricting the space for the roots to spread with a fabric pot.
While still a young tree, protect it from frost by, for example, laying straw around the base.
Also, it is better not to cut the branches needlessly if there is no need.
It suffers from many pests and diseases, so care is needed.

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