''Prunus'' × ''incam'', sometimes called the Okamé cherry, although that name rightly belongs to its Okamé cultivar, is a hybrid species of

flowering cherry A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

, the result of a cross between ''

Prunus incisa ''Prunus incisa'', the Fuji cherry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, which gets its scientific name from the deep incisions on the leaves. It is an endemic species in Japan and grows wild in Kantō, Chūbu and Kinki regio ...

'' (Fuji cherry) and ''

Prunus campanulata ''Prunus campanulata'' is a species of cherry native to Japan, Taiwan, southern and eastern China (Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Hunan, Fujian, and Zhejiang), and Vietnam. It is a large shrub or small tree, growing tall. It is widely grown as an ...

'' (Taiwan or bellflower cherry). It is a small tree, reaching 8m, with silver bark and showy pink flowers. Its leaves are obovate or oblanceolate, 47 to 70mm long and 22 to 31mm wide. Its fall foliage is an attractive bronze-orangish-red. Due to its hybrid nature, fruit are rarely produced even though it produces large amounts of pollen, and so it is propagated and sold commercially by cuttings. ''Prunus × incam'' was developed by

Collingwood Ingram Collingwood "Cherry" Ingram (30 October 1880 – 19 May 1981), was a British ornithologist, plant collector and gardener, who was an authority on Japanese flowering cherries. Personal life Collingwood Ingram was a son of Sir William Ingram and M ...

before 1942 by pollinating ''

'' with pollen from ''

''. In 1993 the 'Okamé' cultivar won the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

, and in 2012 the 'Shosar' cultivar also won the Award. In addition to having a longer flowering period than most cherries, their inflorescences retain their red sepals and hypanthia for one or two weeks after the deeply emarginate petals have fallen, increasing their ornamental value. A number of cultivars are commercially available.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prunus incam incam Hybrid prunus Cherry blossom Interspecific plant hybrids Ornamental plant cultivars Plants described in 2009