Cerasus incisa var. incisa f. urceolata ("Obanamamezakura")

Japanese name: オオバナマメザクラ （大花豆桜）
Scientific name: Cerasus incisa var. incisa f. urceolata

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub to small tree.
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; 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 flowers open at the same time as the leaves unfold, or slightly earlier.
The flowers are larger than those of Mame-zakura and are borne 1–3 per umbel in the leaf axils, hanging downward; they are white to pale pink with 5 petals, 3 cm or more across.
The calyx tube is about the same length as the calyx lobes.
The calyx lobes have serrations on the margin.

[History]
It was described in 1930 by Koizumi Genichi based on a specimen from Mt. Hakone.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings or 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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