The Nomenclature of Cultivated Japanese 

 Flowering Cherries (Prunus): The 

 Sato-zakura Group 



by Roland M. Jefferson and Kay Kazue Wain 1 



Introduction 

 Nomenclature Problems 



To anyone attempting a detailed literature study of Japanese 

 flowering cherries, it becomes quickly evident that serious 

 nomenclature problems exist. Two of the best known selections of 

 Japanese flowering cherries in the United States are often referred to 

 as Prunus serrulata Lindley cv. Amanogawa and cv. Fugenzo. For 

 many years these cultivar names have occurred in numerous lists of 

 ornamental cherry collections, popular and scientific articles, and 

 nursery catalogs published in the United States and Europe. Yet, in 

 notable Japanese references, such as Sano (1961) and Ohwi and 

 Ohta (1973), the selection known as P. serrulata cv. Amanogawa in 

 the United States and Europe is cited as P. lannesiana Wilson cv. 

 Erecta, and P. serrulata cv. Fugenzo is referred to as P. lannesiana 

 cv. Fugenzo. 



The Latin epithet erecta (a synonym of cv. Amanogawa) was 

 first used in Japan as a forma by Miyoshi (1916) in a comprehensive 

 effort to bring the nomenclature for all cultivated types of Japanese 

 flowering cherries into conformity with the "International Code of 

 Botanical Nomenclature" of the time. He erected 67 new Latin 

 names and botanical ranks for existing Japanese flowering cherries 

 that today are clearly designated as cultivars. 



To further add to the confused state of the nomenclature, some 

 European horticultural listings show cv. Amanogawa and cv. 

 Fugenzo as "P. cerasus Amanogawa" and "P. avium flore pleno 

 Fugenzo," respectively. Although the error of using P. cerasus L. 

 and P. avium (L.) L., both valid European cherry species names, as 

 specific epithets for cultivated selections of Japanese flowering 

 cherries is obvious to plant taxonomists, this misapplication vividly 

 illustrates the nomenclature problems. Because of their unknown 

 origin, cv. Amanogawa and cv. Fugenzo cannot be classified as 

 pertaining botanically to any Japanese or European species. There 

 can be little doubt that many botanists of the early 20th century 

 questioned the validity of assigning botanical species epithets in an 

 attempt to classify cultivated selections of the Japanese flowering 



1 Respectively, botanist, U.S. National Arboretum, 

 Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20002, and faculty 

 research assistant, University of Maryland, College Park, 

 Md. 20740. 



