Frequently Asked Questions
about the Cherry Trees
in Washington, DC

Q. What kinds of cherry trees are there?

A. The initial gift of 3,020 trees was represented by 12 different varieties of which two varieties, the Yoshino and Kwanzan, now dominate.

The Yoshino cherry is the predominant variety that encircles the Tidal Basin and spills north onto the Washington Monument grounds. The Yoshino cherries produce a great profusion of single white blossoms that in mass create the effect of white clouds banked around the basin. The Yoshino cherry, known as Somei-yoshino in Japan, is a hybrid of unknown origin that was first introduced in Tokyo in 1872 and is now one of the most popular cultivated flowering cherries. Mingled with the Yoshino trees are a small number of the Akebono cherries, a mutation of the Yoshino cherry with single, pale-pink blossoms introduced into cultivation by W.B. Clarke of California in 1920. The Akebono cherry flowers at the same time as the Yoshino cherry and provides an attractive tint of pink in the early stages of the peak bloom.

The Kwanzan cherry, named after a mountain in Japan, is primarily growing in East Potomac Park. Coming into bloom two weeks later than the Yoshino, the upright Kwanzan branches bear heavy clusters of clear pink double blossoms. The cultivars Fugenzo (double, rosy pink flowers) and Shirofugen (double, white when open but aging to pink) are also represented. Fugenzo is the cultivar Mrs. William Howard Taft believed she planted even before she officially planted the first tree from Japan in 1912. They were planted along the Potomac River from the present site of the Lincoln Memorial south toward East Potomac Park, but gradually disappeared. As First Lady she was interested in the beautification of West Potomac Park, then known as the Speedway.

The Weeping Japanese Cherry, sometimes called the Higan Cherry, is interspersed between the Yoshino, Akebono, and Kwanzan cherries. The flowers of the Weeping Cherry are variable giving rise to many different forms (single to double) and flower colors (dark pink to white). They flower about one week before the Yoshino cherries.

Other selections include the Autumn Flowering Cherry (semi-double, pink flowers), Sargent Cherry (single, deep pink flowers), the Usuzumi Cherry (white-grey flowers), and Takesimensis Cherry.

NPS Photo- Brian Hall

Yoshino

YOSHINO CHERRY
(Prunus x yedoensis)

Habit; a round topped, wide spreading tree that reaches 30 to 50 feet at maturity. Flowers; white, single five petal blossom in clusters of 2 to 5, and almond-scented. This hybrid cherry of unknown Japanese origin was first noticed in Tokyo about 1872 and is now one of the favorite cultivated cherry trees of Japan.

NPS Photo

Kwanzan

KWANZAN CHERRY
(Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan')

Habit; an upright spreading tree to 30 feet, with a rounded crown and stiff ascending branches. Wider than tall at maturity. Flowers; double, with about 30 petals, in pendulous clusters of 3 to 5, sometimes more, clear pink and fading but small, up to 2 1/2 inches across, with many more or less petaloid stamens often partly concealing the two green leafy carpels which protrude from the center of the flower.

AKEBONO CHERRY
(Prunus x yedoensis "Akebono")

Habit; a round topped, wide spreading tree that can reach 30 to 50 feet at maturity. Flowers; single, pale pink that fade to white, in clusters of 2 to 5. This cultivar is loosing popularity in the nursery trade and is being replaced with the cultivar Afterglow (Prunus x yedoensis "Afterglow") which has pink blossoms that are deeper in color and do not fade.

WEEPING JAPANESE CHERRY
(Prunus subhirtella var. pendula)

Habit; tree 20 to 40 feet high, with a round?flattened, gracefully, weeping crown. Usually grafted about 6 feet on the understock. Flowers; single, pink. This variety is very variable and select cultivars differ in form and color. (ie: "Pendula Rosea", single deep pink flowers; "Pendula Plena Rosea", double, pink flowers; "Pendula Alba", single, white flowers; "Rosey Cloud", double, bright pink flowers; "Snowfozam", single, white flowers etc.)

TAKESIMENSIS CHERRY
(Prunus takesimensis)

Habit; an upright spreading tree that can reach 30-40 ft. at maturity. Flowers; white, in large clusters with short pedicels. This species is known to grow in wet locations in it's native habitat and is currently being tested in East Potomac Park for tolerance to excessive moisture.

USUZUMI CHERRY
(Prunus spachiana f. ascendens)

Habit; tree to 40 ft. with a round, gracefully ascending crown. Flowers; single, white, truning to grey. The trees in West Potomac park are propagations from the 1,400+ year old "Usuzumi" tree growing in the village of Itasho Neo, in Gifu Prefecture of Japan. It is said that that the 26th Emporer Keitai of Japan planted the tree 1500 years to clebrate his ascension to the throne. The "Usuzumi" tree was declared a National Treasure of Japan in 1922.

AUTUMN FLOWERING CHERRY
(Prunus subhirtella var. autumnalis)

Habit; an upright rounded tree to 25-30 ft. with a 15-20 ft. spread. Flowers; semi-double, pink. During warm periods in the fall and early winter they will open sporadically and then fully flower the following spring.

SARGENT CHERRY
(Prunus sargentii)

Habit; Upright to 40-50 ft. with spreading branches approximately equal to height. Flowers; single, deep pink, in clusters.

FUGENZO CHERRY
(Prunus serrulata 'Fugenzo')

Habit; tree up to 20 feet high and 20 feet wide, with a broad crown, often flattened and with the branches intercrossing horizontally. Flowers; double, about 30 petals, rose?pink, becoming lighter with age but never white, up to 2 inches across, in pendulous clusters of 4 to 6. This is one of the oldest cultivated cherry trees in Japan.

SHIROFUGEN CHERRY
(Prunus serrulata "Shirofugen")

Habit; a flat topped, wide spreading tree to 20-25 ft. Flowers; double, in large clusters, white when open aging to pink.

"OKAME" (Prunus x "Okame")

Habit; Upright tree to 25 ft. with a 20 ft. spread. Flowers; semi-double, pink. The earliest flowering cherry.