Japanese woody ornamentals across the sea

There are more than 6,700 indigenous plant species in Japan, of which approximately 1,800 are endemic to Japan.
Japanese floriculture developed during the Edo period (1603-1867) and was based on the unique breeding process of using mutation, mainly of native Japanese plants with high ornamental value.
Taking evergreen azaleas (Rhododendron subsect. Tsutsusi) as an example, more than 500 cultivars were created through mutation and natural hybridization during the boom of the mid-17^th century, which was later named ‘The Azalea of the Genroku’. Various flower types and shapes, including double, hose-in-hose, variegated, and color mutations, have emerged and continue to play a significant role today.
However, many of the cultivars produced during that time have been lost.
In addition, numerous cultivars of camellias, cherry trees (Prunus), maple trees (Acer), wisteria and other trees and shrubs with high ornamental value were produced.
These were exported to foreign countries from the end of the Edo period and became the origin of ornamental trees and shrubs cultivated in many parts of the world today.

V International Symposium on Woody Ornamentals of the Temperate Zone

Y. Kurashige

Japanese traditional plant, breeding history, mutation breeding, Rhododendron, evergreen azalea

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1434.1