"The pink form known as 'Rosea' is earliest. It is a beautiful bright pink on a small tree to be seen in Ross Bay Cemetery adjacent to Fairfield Road." http://www.arthurleej.com/a-victoriarosetrees.html
Previous discussions about this tree are in the Whitcomb thread in the Cultivar IDs forum - see postings 6 and 8.
No, it means that the former and perhaps also current presence of that cultivar in that location should be kept in mind when naming specimens found there. I think when I went there some years ago I saw a couple trees together that appeared to be what I took to be 'Rosea'.
Cherry trees in Beacon Hill Park on March 8, 2009 Tree #1 - looks like Whitcomb? but the flowers were paler pink - there were very few flowers left on this tree, and it was really scrubby as you can see Tree #2 - Fudan-zakura (P. serrulata) on Goodacre Lake Tree #3 - another Whitcomb? except again, the flowers are not a strong pink
The white one is the 'Fudan-zakura', a winter-blooming P. serrulata type. Yoshino cherries bloom later and belong to a different group. See the article I linked to above.
Here are some more trees in Ross Bay Cemetery (last Sunday) - wondering if these may be the elusive Rosea??
Photos taken on 2009-04-09 on Trutch Street between Richardson Avenue and Fairfield Avenue on the boulevard (somei-yoshino, I think) Jacobson: The first of the famous Yoshino Cherries (Prunus x yedoensis), were planted on Heywood Avenue and Trutch Street boulevards in the early 1930s. Yoshino is upright and spreading with pale pink flowers fading to white, during late March and early April. in garden of B&B
Photos taken on 2009-04-09 and 2009-04-13 small tree on Collinson west of Trutch blossoms look similar to these photos taken on 2009-04-11 Pendergast east of Vancouver Street
Photos taken on 2009-04-11 on Heywood north of Park Blvd Somei-Yoshino Jacobson: The first of the famous Yoshino Cherries (Prunus x yedoensis), were planted on Heywood Avenue and Trutch Street boulevards in the early 1930s. Yoshino is upright and spreading with pale pink flowers fading to white, during late March and early April.
Photos taken on 2009-04-11 on Pendergast west of Vancouver Tree #1 (SW corner) Tree #2 (NW corner) - Accolade Photos taken on 2009-04-15 on Pendergast east of Heywood (other end of same block)
photos taken on 2009-04-13 on View Street between Cook and Ormond Street I think these are all the same type
Victoria was amazing with all the blossoms lining many streets. Here are 2 images taken around Chinatown.