There are two grafted 'Akebono' in front of an apartment building on Bidwell at Haro. I think at least this one is grafted because 1 - it looks grafted just above the ground 2 - the growth from the rootstock looks different I've neglected to photograph the 'Akebono' part, which is not really in bloom yet, but I've watched this tree for several years and am certain that it is 'Akebono'. There are no leaves yet on the 'Akebono' part of the tree. I think the rootstock is not 'Akebono' because 1 - leaves are out with the flowers 2 - the flowers are spread along the branch, not grouped into balls, as you can see a bit in the background on the 'Akebono' 3 - the popular grouping of flowers is 2, not 3-4 as is supposed to be the case for 'Akebono' (and 'Somei-yoshino') 4 - except for the one flower pictured, there were no other flowers with staminodes on the rootstock growth 5 - the flowers are 4.5cm across, larger than the 3.5cm for 'Akebono' and 'Somei-yoshino' (which should be a bit smaller than 'Akebono') Pedicels are sparsely hairy. Stipules are entire, with red glands. What surprises me every year is how ornamental the rootstock growth is. This would be a lovely tree on its own.
I want to mention that I did see an 'Akebono' on its own at Burrard Station that has a lot of leaves, unlike all the others there. But the popular number of flowers in the clusters is three, not two as on the rootstock growth in question. [Edited by wcutler 2014mar29]Nice tree, eh? It was removed last year, no-one knows why. Another 'Akebono' has been planted in its place, also not grafted.
I'm still interested in this rootstock, thinking it's very lovely and something we don't know yet in Vancouver. This year I remembered to photograph the blossoms on the main tree, clearly 'Akebono'. There are not a lot of open blossoms on the main tree yet, while the rootstock growth is more than half open. I said mostly everything in my first posting. The blossoms are 4cm to almost 5.5cm across, way too large for 'Somei-yoshino'. I pulled that very large blossom from the tree, so I'm sure it came from this rootstock growth. It's really almost 6cm; it seemed large, but I'm surprised it measures that large. ]
Now I have two ideas. One is that the rootstock was an 'Akebono' seedling. Here are some more photos of this tree. Here is a young 'Akebono' a half block west on Haro that has real tree shape, had leaves with the flowers, has flowers in corymbs, and has overall a similar appearance to the rootstock growth on "my" tree. I didn't photograph it in bloom, because it had flowers in clusters like most 'Akebono', not so strung out on the branch the way the rootstock one has, so I thought it wasn't similar enough. So, in spite of my having found only one staminode, maybe the rootstock growth is 'Akebono', and the ones that are more natural behave differently? Then the question is back to, how did this tree produce 'Akebono' rootstock growth, and I have two ideas for that. One is that the scion sent down its own roots. And the other is that I'm mistaken about the main tree being grafted. Here are trunk photos. Doesn't it look grafted at the bottom?
I dragged Douglas Justice over to look at this tree yesterday. He's going with my last conjecture - that I'm mistaken about its being grafted, and that it seem to be an 'Akebono' on its own roots. Douglas found a staminode right away! The new growth is more bushy, with several trunks, so it will behave differently from the original tree. Okay, over and out on this one.
:) Nice. This was a pretty elaborate set-up, to enable you to use a line like that. Couldn't be more apt.
So I lied. Actually, I see that I've said everything I'm still thinking, but I'm still incredulous that flowering branches can look SO DIFFERENT and still be the same thing. Here is the tree with the rootstock growth all leafy and the flowers hanging so delicately in two's or three's, inflorescences separated along the branch. Apparently only Douglas can see staminodes on this part of the tree. I did not find any this year (or last year). Question, different topic: in the fourth photo above, the little leafy things above the leaves are stipules; on the inflorescences, the bits that look just like the stipules - are they bracteoles? And here is an inflorescence ball from the main part of the tree. Staminode easily found, first place I looked. No leaves open yet. Here is a young 'Akebono' nearby, seemingly not grafted. I think it's a bit younger than the rootstock growth on the subject tree. Flowers are open; no leaves yet, inflorescence balls like on the main part of the subject tree.
I found a supposed 'Akebono' that looks pretty much like rootstock growth of the subject tree in this thread. I can't tell if it's grafted or not. Large flowers are mostly spread out on the branch, and there are very few staminodes (I found only one). The first photo below is just good enough to show hairs on the pedicels. Second photo shows the staminode. Third photo shows the only ball of flowers I saw on the tree. This is on the south side of Pacific east of Jervis.
Yearly update on this tree. Six days ago, there were flowers and leaves on the rootstock tree, only buds on the rest of the tree. Today, the rootstock growth looked slightly more white than the rest of the tree (since the flowers had been open longer). One flower had a staminode. I see that I claimed previously that the rootstock flowers were in groups of two, but I see in these photos that three is the more common number now. Flowers are still at least 4.5cm in diameter, and they are spread out on the branches, not in bunches as on the rest of the tree. The main tree has no leaves yet. I've just posted the young ungrafted 'Akebono' nearby, to which I have compared this one, at Identification: - Akebono - billowy pink fading to white, single-looking semi-double blossoms, mid-seas I think we're expecting the tree in question to start looking more like this one, but it's not doing it yet.
I see that I managed to go three years without posting this tree, with the nicely developing rootstock that so far has lived with the name 'Akebono'. Everything I said previously still holds - single flowers larger than 'Akebono' arranged in inflorescences of two or three, only one flower on this part of the tree with a staminode, leaves emerging with the flowers and both emerging before the flowers or leaves on the main tree. I first posted this 8 years ago - this is no longer immature growth is it? By now I would expect it to be doing what a mature whatever it is does. The trunks on this part are 4 or 5 meters tall, maybe more. Last two photos show the leaves.
Well, it also behaves differently from any other 'Akebono' that I have seen. Here is the rootstock today, in full bloom; the upper part of the photo is from the main trunk, not open yet. Two blocks away is the young 'Akebono' posted above in 2013, with a single flower open. I thought it was on its own roots, but the root creeping along the ground makes me wonder if it isn't low grafted onto Prunus avium. I guess we'll find out when that sends up a new shoot.
Yoshino cherry exists in more versions than just 'Akebono' and 'Somei-yoshino'. Really, any crossing of the two parents is a Yoshino cherry - maybe a local producer grew seeds from one of these two named forms familiar in our region and used these as stocks for 'Akebono'.
Ron, are you talking about my musing about the rootstock of the young tree in the posting above your comment, or are you suggesting an explanation for the rootstock growth of the tree that's the main subject of this thread?
This tree is really doing three different things. The actual original tree, seen at the top in the first photo here, is mostly still in bud, has a few open flowers now. The middle tier flowers are completely open, pretty much 'Akebono'-like, with no leaves. This tier is formed by the top of the rootstock limbs. The bottom tier flowers are completely open, with unfolding leaves. These are lower branches off the rootstock limbs. Second photo is of the middle tier. Maybe this is just how 'Akebono' do it.
Here is this tree again that I like so much. The new growth is looking more similar to the older part of the tree, except that the leaves are emerging with the flowers. Flowers on both parts of the tree are the same size. Today I found several flowers on the ground with 7 or 8 petals, some with petaloids. I couldn't be sure what part of the tree they'd fallen from, but I did find one flower with seven petals and a petaloid on the new part of the tree. I've found some flowers like this on the 'Akebono' trees at Burrard Station this year. I'm pretty satisfied that the new part of the tree, growing from the root, is 'Akebono' or a seedling of that cultivar (not 'Somei-yoshino'), and that the tree is not grafted.