CHERRY BLOSSOM
A cherry blossom is a flower of many trees of genus Prunus or Prunus subg. Cerasus. They are also known as Japanese cherry and
Sakura (桜 or 櫻; さくら or サクラ). They generally refer to ornamental cherry trees, not to confuse with cherry trees that produce fruit for
eating.[4][5] It is considered the national flower of Japan.[6]
Wild species of cherry tree are widely distributed mainly in the Northern hemisphere.[7][8][9] In the mainstream classification in
Europe and North America, cherry trees for ornamental purposes are classified into the genus Prunus which consists of about 400
species. In the mainstream classification in Japan, China, and Russia, on the other hand, ornamental cherry trees are classified into the
genus Cerasus, which consists of about 100 species separated from the genus Prunus, and the genus Cerasus does not include Prunus
salicina, Prunus persica (Peach), Prunus mume, Prunus grayana, amongst others.[4] In Europe and North America, however, there
were not many wild cherry trees with many large flowers suitable for cherry blossom viewing. Many of them were different from the
typical cherry tree shapes and flowers for cherry blossom viewing that people today imagine.[10][8] In mainland China, there has been
a culture of viewing plum blossoms since ancient times, and there were many wild species of cherry blossoms, but many of them had
small flowers, and the distribution area of wild species of cherry blossoms, which bore large flowers suitable for hanami, was often
limited to a small area away from people's living areas.[11] On the other hand, in Japan, Prunus speciosa (Oshima cherry) and Prunus
jamasakura (Yamazakura), which bloom large flowers suitable for cherry blossom viewing and tend to become large trees, were
distributed in a fairly wide area of the country and close to people's living areas. Therefore, it is considered that the culture of viewing
cherry blossoms and the production of cultivars have developed historically in Japan.[11]
Many of the cherry trees currently enjoyed for cherry blossom viewing are not wild species but cultivar. Because cherry trees have a
mutable trait, many cultivars have been created for cherry blossom viewing, especially in Japan. Since the Heian period, the Japanese
have produced many cultivars by selecting superior or mutant individuals that were born from natural crossings of wild cherry trees,
or by crossing them artificially, and then breeding them by grafting and cutting. Oshima cherry, Yamazakura, Prunus pendula
f.ascendens (syn, Prunus itosakura, Edo higan), and so on, which grow naturally in Japan, are easy to mutate, and especially Oshima
cherry, which is an endemic species in Japan, tend to mutate into double-flowered, grow fast, have many large flowers, and have a
strong fragrance; therefore, Oshima cherry has produced many sakura called Sato-zakura Group as a base of cultivars because of its
favorable characteristics. The representative cultivars whose parent species is Oshima cherry are Yoshino cherry and Kanzan; Yoshino
cherries are actively planted in Asian countries, and Kanzan is actively planted in Western countries.[12][1][2][3]
In Europe, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Collingwood Ingram, an Englishman, collected and studied Japanese
cherry blossoms, and created various ornamental cultivars, and the culture of cherry blossom viewing began to spread. In the United
States, cherry blossom viewing began to spread after Japan presented cherry blossoms as a token of friendship in 1912.[13]
Many wild species and cultivars bloom from March to April in the Northern Hemisphere. Wild species, even if they are the same
species, are genetically different from one tree to another, so that even if they are planted in the same place, there is some variation in
the time when they reach full bloom. On the other hand, because a cultivar, which is a clone propagated by grafting or cutting, is
genetically uniform, each tree of the same cultivar planted in the same place is in full bloom and scattered all at once. Cultivars tend to
be planted for cherry blossom viewing rather than for wild species because of their property of being in full bloom at the same time. In
addition, some wild species such as Edo higan and the cultivars developed from them are in full bloom before the leaves open, giving
a showy impression to the people who enjoy them. Yoshino cherry became popular as a cherry tree for cherry-blossom viewing
because, in addition to these characteristics of simultaneous flowering and the fact that the flowers are in full bloom before the leaves
open, it bears a large number of flowers and grows quickly to become a big tree. Many cultivars of Sato-zakura group, which were born
from complex interspecific hybrids based on Oshima cherry, are often used for ornamental purposes and generally reach full bloom a
few days to two weeks after Yoshino cherry reaches full bloom.[15]
The flowering time of cherry trees is thought to be affected by global warming and the heat island effect of urbanization. According to
the record of full bloom dates of Yamazakura (Prunus jamasakura) in Kyoto, Japan, which was recorded for about 1200 years, the time
of full bloom was relatively stable from 812 to 1800's, but after that, the time of full bloom rapidly became earlier and in 2021, the
earliest full bloom date in 1200 years was recorded. The average peak day in the 1850s was around April 17, but in the 2020s it was April
5, during which time the average temperature rose by about 6 degrees (3.4 Celsius). According to the record of full bloom dates of
Yoshino cherry in the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., around 1921 it was April 5, but around 2021 it was March 31. These records are
consistent with the record of rapid increases in global mean temperature since the mid-1800s.[16][17]
