How can you tell the different between Shogetsu and Shirofugen cherry trees?
They both have white double-flowers and they bloom at the same time in Vancouver (just about now), so how can you identify them?
I decided to put my cherry scout training in practice and try to identify a white cherry tree blooming on my street. I quickly determined that it was Shogetsu (as opposed to a Shirofugen). Here’s why:
Emerging leaves: When you want to identify cherry trees, it’s important to keep field notes.
For example, I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the leaves of the tree were emerging (green) before the blossoms, which means the tree cherry was probably a Shogetsu (the leaves of Shirofugen are copper color when they emerge before turning to green then back to copper).
The edge of the Shogetsu petals are fringed (instead of having a smooth round edge).
Wendy Cutler provided great pictures showing the difference between Shogetsu and Shirofugen cherry blossoms on the UBC forum (#6).
Petal count: I’ve counted about 25 petals on the blossoms. Shogetsu have 20-25 petals, but Shirofugen can have up to 40.
Flowers: the elegant blossoms were at the end of long stalks of 4-6 corymbs. The picture I took was very similar to the photo from the book Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver, confirming my belief this was a Shogetsu.
Color of the leaves: no sign of copper. All the leaves are a healthy green.
Presence of a phylloid (which is also present in Shirofugen).
Buds: with a hint of pink, but blossoms open pure white.
I think the first four elements were the ones that really allowed to identify the tree as Shogetsu: green leaves emerging before the blossoms, fringed-edge petals, long stalks, and 25 petals.
Are there Shogetsu cherry trees in your neighborhood? Find out on the VCBF map.
