Winter sakura cherry blossoms

Did you know that the stories about "magic" trees that bloom in the middle of the winter have some truth to them?

In Japan, there are indeed sakura cherry trees which blossom twice a year, first on spring and second in late autumn, usually in October, continuing as late as December. Their name varies from region to region, but they are basically the same. So, you may hear about shikizakura (four-season cherry blossom trees), fudanzakura (sakura that always blooms), fuyuzakura (winter sakura), kanzakura (cold-season cherry blossom trees) or jugatsuzakura (October cherry tree). Here is one such sakura tree, photographed this winter...