Hello there.I'm just curious..recently had a catalogue from a nursery here in UK showing 11 new to UK 'Matsumae' cultivars. May I ask..are all the cherries grouped together in the places of their origin? The nursery also suggests that this place of origin in Japan may make them more suitable for the UK climate than others,though I guess there are too many variables to confirm that.
Well, I'm not completely sure how to answer your question. The Matsumae Group of cultivars are all from Matsumae Town, and there seems to be a good connection between the people there and people at Keele Arboretum (see this page). The climate in Matsumae is cooler and wetter than in a lot of other cherry growing areas of Japan, and this probably contributes to their disease resistance in Britain, and elsewhere. However, to be honest this kind of naming (identifying the place of origin) is a rare phenomenon. There are few rules about naming cherry cultivars and cultivar groups, and no rules about common names (hence the confusion with Mt. Fuji and Fuji cherry, etc.), so it's always best when looking into names to consult an authoritative book like Kuitert's Japanese Flowering Cherries or a good on-line resource like the National Cherry Collection on the Keele University Arboretum website.
Oh thankyou for your reply Douglas and the super links,you've answered my query in saying rarely.I've seen 'Yoshino' spoken of frequently so wondered if they were all grouped as such,though I admit I wasn't sure if the name could also be a reference/label for a particular trait of the trees.I'm also amazed how many cultivar names are also applied to maples.