In China and Japan, except the colder parts^
the first flowers to open on deciduous trees are
those of the Ume (Prunus mume), generaUy known
as the Japanese Apricot, and those familiar with the
porcelains of the Far East will appreciate it as the
Plum Blossom so often employed in design. This
plant is wild in central and western China, but it
has been cultivated in all but the colder parts of that
land from time immemorial and was from China in-
troduced to Japan by Buddhist priests more than one
thousand years ago.
In Tokyo and many other places in Japan there
are famous "Plum Gardens*' which are a source of
great attraction when the trees are in blossom.
188 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN

At the village of Tsuki-gase, some twenty-five
from the old eighth century capital of Nara, there is a
line of Ume trees for upward of two miles alongside a
small stream. The deUcately fragrant flowers are
white, pink, and even deep rose, and are either single
or double; the shoots are smooth and green and the
leaves roxmdish and light green in color. Normally
it is a low bushy tree some twelve to fifteen feet tall,
with a thin trunk and spreading branches; but under
cultivation, forms have originated in which the
branches are pendent or quite erect (fastigiate).
