JAPANESE Higan Cherries Gain in Favor for the Adornment of Parks

Every year the Japanese flowering cherries, with their numerous varieties differing in color, size, and degree of doubleness, are becoming more popular as their peculiar beauty is appreciated. An ever-increasing number of inquiries gives evidence of the growing interest in these immigrants from the Orient, and already a number of cities are planning definitely to utilize them in beautifying their parks.

FIGURE 130.—The compact, bushy form of the spring cherry as it grows at the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass.

At the present time probably the most popular forms are those with large double flowers. But there is a relatively little-known group of Japanese flowering cherries, mostly single, which are quite as attractive in their way as are the large double varieties. Collectively these are known as the Japanese Higan cherries (Prunus subhirtella) because of their early-flowering habit. Very early in the spring, about the time the forsythias begin to show yellow, the leafless limbs of these trees suddenly clothe themselves with masses of pink.

Several varieties are included in this group. One of these, the Benihiganzakura (P. subhirtella ascendens), a large, thick-branched tree, grows spontaneously in parts of Japan and is generally considered to be the wild ancestor of the other early Japanese flowering cherries.  It is of no particular horticultural merit. The only double-flowering variety is the Jugatsuzakura (P. subhirtella autumnalis). This low, bushy tree has small, semidouble pink flowers, borne not only in the spring but also in the autumn. Jugatsu means October and zakura means flowering cherry. Either the autumn crop of flowers is small and the spring crop large, or vice versa. The Jugatsuzakura is grown extensively in the vicinity of Tokyo.

FIGURE 131.—The innumerable flowers of the Higanzakura form a dense mass of beauty

The two remaining varieties deserve special mention. One, the Higanzakura (P. subhirtella), is cultivated extensively in western Japan, but it is not known in the wild state. It is probably the most floriferous of all the Japanese flowering cherries, not even excepting the deservedly popular Yoshino, which adorns the banks of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D. C. It is a rather small, bushy tree, growing to about 25 feet in height, in general habit resembling the Japanese plum. (Fig.130.) The flowers, somewhat larger and paler pink than those of the other forms, appear very early in the spring in such vast numbers as to hide completely most of the branches. (Fig. 131.) In older trees the outer ends of the branches nearly touch the ground, so that the trunk itself often is not visible. The literal meaning of higan is equinox. As applied to the flowering cherries of Japan, it means early.

The other variety which should be more widely grown is the weeping or pendulous form (P. subhirtella pendula), considered by many horticulturists to be the finest of the group. Known to the Japanese as the Shidarehiganzalkura (drooping early flowering cherry), it is cultivated all over that country in courtyards, temple grounds, and cemeteries. Individual trees often attain a great age and large size. One tree near the town of Hachioji is reported to be nearly 70 feet tall, with a trunk 10 feet in circumference. The degree of pendulousness varies greatly.  While the typical form resembles in habit the weeping willow, all gradations from this to the ascending form are to be found.

In using the Japanese names of these varieties of cherries, the name zakura (flowering cherry) may properly be omitted, leaving the four variety names in the following forms: Higan, Benihigan, Shidarehigan, and Jugatsu. It should be understood that all these are varieties of Japanese flowering cherries and that when the names are written in full the word zakura should be added.

The Higan cherries of Japan are comparatively hardy and probably can be grown in the same general areas as the peach, and possibly even farther north.