The styles, being worked out by the Japanese masters, are simple, natural, unpretentious and free of any pomposity. Although the Japanese had canonized the bonsai styles, in any country every bonsai maker introduces his own details when using local flora plants. Four styles are the basic ones. These trees are tenacious of life and, when used by bonsai masters in collections, they outlive the same varieties in the wild. They are used in almost every bonsai style.
Deciduous trees look lacey in spring, with newly green leafs, and are very graphical in off-season.
Maples, limes, birches, oaks, beeches, hornbeams, mountain ashes, zelkovas, and willows are widely used in the bonsai art. Fruit trees and other blooming trees belong to a special group that is popular and attractive among beginners. These are plum, cherry, quince, pomegranate, apple, cornel, persimmon, and citrus trees with little flowers and fruits as well as magnolia, myrtle, camellia, azalea and gardenia bushes. While blooming they make an unforgettable impression. To indicate the season of the year in bonsai art, grassy plants are used, which simultaneously accent the age of the basic plant.