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Rosaceae
Japanese Flowering Cherry
Prunus serrulata
The fleeting beauty of life and mono no aware.
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Genus
- Prunus
- Native to
- Japan, Korea, China
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- deciduous tree
- Height
- 5–12 m
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- well-drained, fertile, slightly acidic
- Water
- medium
- Hardiness
- 5–8
- Lifespan
- 15–25 years for ornamental cultivars; wild forms longer
Did you know
- Japan has over 200 cultivated varieties of flowering cherry, collectively called 'sakura', each with distinct petal form and color.
- The Japanese Meteorological Agency tracks the 'cherry blossom front' as it sweeps north from Okinawa to Hokkaido each spring.
- In 1912, Tokyo gifted 3,020 cherry trees to Washington, D.C., launching the famous Tidal Basin display.
- Most ornamental cherries produce little or no fruit — they were bred purely for the spectacle of blossoms.
- Hanami, the tradition of flower-viewing picnics under cherry blossoms, dates back to at least the Nara period (710–794 CE).
Color meanings
Pink
gentle affection and renewal
White
purity and spiritual beauty