Trees Gallery - The Yorkshire Arboretum -page 9

Prunus matsumae hana-garuma

Matsumae cherry

A medium-sized tree typically reaching 20m. The double flowers are usually dark pink in bud, fading to pale pink-white once fully open. During summer, the tree boasts dark green leaves that turn shades of purple, orange, or red in autumn before gracefully falling. Stems are often a ruby-red color. From Matsumae at the southern tip of Hokkaido.

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Prunus mieke 'Royal Flame'

Prunus mieke

An upright tree with a pyramidal, uniformly branched crown. Completely covered in small, fragrant, white flowers with yellow and pink anthers in spring. The green summer foliage puts on brilliant autumnal displays of fiery orange, reds and yellows.

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Prunus padus

Bird cherry

A British native which can grow to 25m. The bark is smooth, peeling and greyish-brown and emits an unpleasant, acrid odour. Petioles leaf stems have two red glands at the top. Leaves have hairs on the underside in the vein axils the angle between the upper side of a leaf or stem and the supporting stem or branch . Unlike wild cherry (p. avium), the edges have fine, sharp serrations. Fruits are reddish-black, bitter cherries. Unlike wild cherry, bird cherry does not produce root suckers.

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Prunus 'Royal Burgundy'

Royal Burgundy cherry

A vigorous small tree to 5m, narrowly upright at first, then spreading, with reddish-black leaves, deep coppery red when young, and turning orange and scarlet in autumn. Clusters of double, pink flowers appear with or just before the leaves in mid-spring. In winter, the exfoliating coppery bark creates interest.

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Prunus Ryuunin-beni-yae-zakura

Japanese flowering cherry

Another Matsumae cultivar from Mr Masatoshi Asari a flowering cherry specialist and breeder in the Matsumae region of Hokkaido. b.1931, he is responsible for over 100 cultivars. . The flowers, which have distinctive dark eyes, fade to warm-white in late March or early April. Used as a parent for p. beni-yutaka, crossed with an unknown double-flowered cherry cultivar.

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Prunus serrula 'Branklyn'

Tibetan cherry

The species is native to W China, this cultivar from Branklyn gardens in Perth, Scotland is a small, vase shaped tree grown for its polished, red-brown, mahogany, peeling bark and narrow upright form. The green, narrow leaves turn orange yellow in the autumn. Small white flowers appear in April and May.

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Prunus 'Sunset Boulevard'

Cherry 'Sunset Boulevard'

A narrow, conical form or prunus, with large, blush white flowers with a pink centre. Growing to a height and spread of 6 x 3m. A descendant of p. serrulata 'Benden', inheriting the coppery young leaves which turn green before developing fiery shades of yellow, orange and red in autumn.

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Prunus Taoyame

Cherry Taoyame

Flowers are semi-double, honey scented, shell pink with contrasting purple calyx opening from pink buds in mid-spring. A medium sized tree to 6m high and wide. The foliage is a deep coppery-red when young turning green over summer then yellow in the autumn.

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Prunus verecunda 'Autumn Glory'

Korean Hill Cherry

A.k.a. p. leveilleana 'Autumn Glory', p. serrulata 'Autumn Glory'. A tree native to Korea and Japan, growing to 6m with small, single, white flowers about 2.5cm across born in pendulous umbels a flower cluster in which stalks of nearly equal length spring from a common centre and form a flat or curved surface of 2 or 4 just before the leaves. The autumn colour is a spectacular red, hence its name.

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Prunus yae-murasaki-zakura

Double purple Cherry

A slow growing cultivar reaching only 3m in 20 years. Mature trees have a broad umbrella-shape, in habit resembling p. choshu-hizakura' and p. Kanzan. It is extremely floriferous, covering itself with purplish-pink blossom over a long period in late-April to early May. Winter buds are vivid red, leading to bright red flower buds in Spring. The large semi-double (i.e. 8-10 petals) bluish rose-pink flowers 3.5 – 4cm dia. are produced in great numbers and hang in umbels a flower cluster in which stalks of nearly equal length spring from a common centre and form a flat or curved surface of 3-4 blooms on long drooping stems among the coppery red foliage. Flowers are normally semi-double but can be single. They have a strong almond scent. Emergent leaves are reddish-copper coloured, later becoming deep green, turning a brilliant orange in autumn.