Yoshino Flowering Cherry
Prunus x yedoensis
Learn about the Yoshino flowering cherry including when and why it was planted, how to identify it, and where to find it on campus.
Tree Facts
Traits
- Light and airy pale pink to white flowers in spring
- Serrated leaves 4-8 inches long
- Smooth bark with horizontal striping
- Susceptible to the cherry tortrix beetle and foliar fungal diseases
Native Range
- Japan
Story of the Tree
The grove of 40 Yoshino trees was donated to Washington in 1984 by Mitsuo Mutai of Yoshino, Japan, head of Tokyo's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. These cherry trees are among the first campus trees to bloom each spring, with millions of flowers that look like snow when they fall.
There is a second small grove northeast of Tivoli fountain by the Isaac Stevens homesite.