Cerasus incisa var. incisa ("Mamezakura")

Japanese name: マメザクラ （豆桜）
Scientific name: Cerasus incisa var. incisa

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub to small tree 3–8 m tall.
It is common at the foot of Mt. Fuji and around Hakone.
The trunk branches from the base, giving an umbrella-shaped crown.
The bark is purplish brown, irregularly and shallowly cracked, and dotted with lenticels arranged horizontally.
First-year branches are hairless, rarely hairy.
The leaves are obovate to ovate, 2.8–4.8 cm long and 1.5–3 cm wide; the tip is long and tail-like, and the base is rounded to obtuse.
The leaf margin has doubly serrate, incised teeth that are somewhat sharp.
Both sides of the leaf have appressed hairs, which are somewhat denser on the underside.
The petiole is 5–9 mm long and has ascending or appressed 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 1–3 per umbel in the leaf axils, hanging downward; they are white to pale pink with 5 petals, 1.6–2 cm across.
The petals are obovate, 7–12 mm long and 6–9 mm wide.
There are about 38 stamens, shorter than the style.
The style is 11–13 mm long, more than 5 times the length of the ovary.
The calyx tube is cylindrical, 5–6 mm long, and about 2.5 times as long as the calyx lobes.
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 1.2–1.9 cm long and densely covered with short ascending hairs.
The fruit is about 8 mm across and ripens black.

[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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