New Species of Cherry Tree in Japan Named "Kumanozakura"

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute and the Wakayama prefectural government's forestry test station have given a new species of a wild cherry tree the Japanese name "Kumanozakura." The cherry tree, growing in the southern part of the Kii Peninsula in western Japan, is the first new species of the genus Cerasus in the country in some 100 years, the two groups said Tuesday. The petals of Kumanozakura are mainly a light shade of red, similar to those of "Someiyoshino," and bloom earlier than those of the cultivated variety. The leaves are egg-shaped and smaller than those of the "Yamazakura" and "Kasumizakura" wild cherry trees found in the region. The two organizations classified the Kumanozakura as a new species from characteristics such as the short and hairless stem part at the root of the flower. A paper on the findings will be included in an edition of Japanese journal Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica in late June. Kumanozakura are found in an area 90 kilometers north to south and 60 kilometers east to west around the Kumano River basin, straddling Nara, Mie and Wakayama prefectures. The two groups plan to select superior examples of Kumanozakura trees, aiming to establish a cultivation method. END