Cerasus shikokuensis ("Ishizuchizakura")

Japanese name: イシヅチザクラ （石鎚桜）
Scientific name: Cerasus shikokuensis

[Overview]
A deciduous shrub to small tree.
It is found on sunny rocky, gravelly ground near the summits from Mt. Ishizuchi to Mt. Higashi-akaishi.
The first-year branches are hairless.
The leaves are alternate, broadly obovate, 4–7 cm long and 1.7–4 cm wide, with a tail-like pointed tip and an obtuse to broadly wedge-shaped base.
Appressed hairs grow on the upper surface of the leaf and on the veins of the underside.
The leaf margin has doubly serrate teeth that are incised.
The petiole is 0.6–1.2 cm long with spreading hairs, and has nectar glands on the upper part.
The flowers open almost at the same time as the leaves unfold.
The flowers are borne 2–3 in umbels from the leaf axils and are pale pink with 5 petals.
The petals are broadly obovate, 0.8–1.2 cm long and 7–9 mm wide.
There are about 28 stamens, and the lower part of the style is often hairy.
The calyx tube is 6–10 mm long, and the calyx lobes have entire margins.
The flower stalk is 2–5 mm long, and the pedicels are 1.2–2.2 cm long and usually hairless.
The fruit is spherical and ripens black.
The fruit stalk is 2.6–3.3 cm long.

[History]
It was described in 1966 by Moriya Tadayuki as a variety of Mame-zakura, and in 1978 Kubota Hideo presumed it to be a hybrid of Kinki-mamezakura and Takane-zakura.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by cuttings, or by grafting.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained location.
If a garden-planted tree growing large would be a problem, it is good to limit the space for the roots with a fabric pot in order to control the size of the tree.
While it is still a young tree, protect it from frost by spreading straw around the base, for example.
Also, it is better not to cut branches needlessly if it is not necessary.
Care is needed because pests and diseases are numerous.

[Notes]
It shows characteristics intermediate between Kinki-mamezakura and Takane-zakura, and is thought to have originated from a hybrid of the two.

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