‘Umineko’ (seagull). This little-known cultivar is a modern hybrid of two Japanese species—the shrubby Fuji cherry (Prunus incisa) and the Japanese hill cherry (P. serrulata var. spontanea) made by the renowned English cherry breeder, Collingwood Ingram. ‘Umineko’ produces masses of beautiful, five-petaled, pure white flowers (like a seagull’s wing) in mid April. Trees are narrow and vase-shaped in youth, but gradually open to form a round-headed crown with age. Thirty years ago, ‘Umineko’ was frequently planted on Vancouver’s east side, in parks and on boulevards, but it is now seldom available in commerce.
