さくらんぼの木 / Cherry Tree

最近、外出する度に、気になっていた人や初めてなのに話が弾む人など、いろいろな人と出会い。まるで、誰かが手配したかと錯覚しそうになるほどです。

Lately, every time I go out, I meet various people whom I have been curious about or with whom I can talk even though it is the first time. It is almost as if someone has arranged it.


今日も、自転車で行った市役所でも、駐輪場で若い（僕よりも）素敵な女性に「今日も寒いですよね」と話掛けられ。市役所でもロビー販売されていた顏馴染みの方（4回目）の女性と冗談話に花が咲き、帰り道、往路で見つけていたゴミを拾っていると、傍らにいた女性から「ありがとうございます」と言われ、その人が撮影していた「さくらんぼの木」を教えてもらいました。

Today, too, at the city hall where I went by bicycle, a nice young woman (even nicer than me) talked to me at the bicycle parking lot, saying, “It's cold again today, isn't it? At the city hall, too, I was joking around with a woman who was a familiar face (for the fourth time) who was selling in the lobby. On my way home, as I was picking up trash I had found on my way out, a woman beside me said, “Thank you,” and told me about the “cherry tree” she was taking a picture of.

さくらんぼ（西洋実桜）の木ですが、このままでは「さくらんぼ」の実はならないとの事。帰宅して調べてみると、“自家不和合性” という特性の為に、他の品種の桜、例えば
佐藤錦とか高砂、ナポレオンなどの花粉を受粉させないと実がならない様です。

更に調べると、“自家不和合性” の果樹は「さくらんぼ」だけではなく、リンゴや西洋ナシ、アンズやプルーン、柿や栗、モモやブルーベリーなど、多くの果樹が 他種の花粉の受粉が必要で、自家受粉をしない事で遺伝子の多様性を保ち、自然条件の変化にも適応できる特性として多くの植物が持つ特徴で、被子植物の 40％ の品種が “自家不和合性” だという事です。

全く知りませんでした。
人との出会いも大切です。寒さに負けて、毎日、机に向かう生活を続けていましたが。やっぱり、何かの理由をつけて外出する春にします。

The tree is a cherry (western seed cherry) tree, but I was told that it would not produce “cherry” fruit as it is. After returning home, I found out that due to its “self-incompatibility” characteristic, it must be pollinated by pollen from other varieties of cherry trees, such as Sato Nishiki, Takasago, Napoleon, and so on.
I went home and found out that due to its “self-incompatibility,” the cherry must be pollinated by pollen from other cherry varieties, such as Sato Nishiki, Takasago, or Napoleon, in order to produce fruit.

Further investigation reveals that fruit trees with “self-incompatibility” are not only cherries, but also apples, pears, apricots, prunes, persimmons, chestnuts, peaches, blueberries, and many other fruit trees that require pollination from other species, and by not self-pollinating, they maintain genetic diversity and can adapt to changes in natural conditions. This is a characteristic that many plants possess that allows them to adapt to changing natural conditions. 40% of all angiosperms are “self-incompatibles.

I had no idea.
Meeting people is also important. I had been living at my desk every day in the cold, but I knew I had to go out for some reason. I will go out for some reason in the spring after all.