''Prunus grayana'' (
syn.
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...
''Padus grayana'' (
Maxim.
Carl Johann Maximovich (also Karl Ivanovich Maximovich, Russian: Карл Иванович Максимович; 23 November 1827 in Tula, Russia – 16 February 1891 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian botanist. Maximovich spent most of his lif ...
)
C.K.Schneid., ''Prunus padus''
var.
In botanical nomenclature, variety (abbreviated var.; in la, varietas) is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of form. As such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name. It is sometimes recommended that the ...
''japonica''
Miq.
Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel (24 October 1811 – 23 January 1871) was a Dutch botanist, whose main focus of study was on the flora of the Dutch East Indies.
Early life
Miquel was born in Neuenhaus and studied medicine at the University of Groni ...
; Japanese bird cherry or Gray's bird cherry; Japanese ; Chinese ) is a species of
bird cherry
Bird cherry is a common name for the European plant '' Prunus padus''.
Bird cherry may also refer to:
* ''Prunus'' subg. ''Padus'', a group of species closely related to ''Prunus padus''
* ''Prunus avium'', the cultivated cherry, with the Latin e ...
native to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, occurring at medium altitudes of 1,000–3,800 m in the
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
zone. It prefers sunshine and moist (but drained) soil.
[Flora of China]
''Padus grayana''
/ref>[Japanese Tree Encyclopedia]
Uwamizuzakura ''Prunus grayana''
/ref>deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
reaching a height of 8–20 m. The trunk is slender with smooth grey to purple-grey bark
Bark may refer to:
* Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick
* Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog)
Places
* Bark, Germany
* Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland
Arts, ...
marked with horizontal brown lenticel
A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...
s, with a strong smell when cut. The leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are elliptical to ovoid, 4–10 cm long and 1.8–4.5 cm broad, with a serrated margin with aristate tips to the serrations. The lowest teeth of a leaf feature two glands. The flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s are produced on 5–8 cm long raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
s, each flower 7–10 mm diameter, with five white petals; they are hermaphroditic
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...
, and appear in mid-spring after the leaves. The fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
is a small drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
, about 8 mm in diameter, green at first, then red and finally ripening black in mid summer.[Botanic Japan]
''Prunus grayana''
(in Japanese
[Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .]
It is very closely related to ''Prunus padus
''Prunus padus'', known as bird cherry, hackberry, hagberry, or Mayday tree, is a flowering plant in the rose family. It is a species of cherry, a deciduous small tree or large shrub up to tall. It is the type species of the subgenus '' Padus' ...
'' (Bird cherry), differing in the aristate tips to the leaf serration (blunt-pointed in ''P. padus''), and the longer style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
in the flower.[Flora of China]
''Padus''
/ref>
Uses
The flowers, fruit and seed are all edible and are prepared and eaten in Japan. The fruit can be preserved with salt to make a dish called Anningo. The bark and roots are the source of a green dye. The wood is very hard and splits easily. It is used in various cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
-making and various other ornamental applications.[
]
Classification
The taxon was described in 1864 by Miquel as ''Prunus padus'' var. ''japonica'', on the basis of specimens collected by Siebold Siebold or von Siebold is a German surname:
* Carl Caspar von Siebold (1736–1807), surgeon
* Regina von Siebold (1771–1849), obstetrician
* Adam Elias von Siebold (1775–1828), medical doctor
* Charlotte von Siebold (1788–1859), gynaecol ...
. After a review of the previous literature, Maximowicz
Carl Johann Maximovich (also Karl Ivanovich Maximovich, Russian: Карл Иванович Максимович; 23 November 1827 in Tula, Russia – 16 February 1891 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian botanist. Maximovich spent most of his life ...
in St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
decided in 1883[ For the details of the publication including the dates of the volumes and the reprint of the article in ''Mélange ...'' see ] the tree was a distinct species, and named it ''Prunus grayana'' after Asa Gray
Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2700694
Bird cherries
grayana
Flora of Asia
Flora of China
Flora of Japan
Plants described in 1883