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 large grove of Yoshino trees, tucked between the Cherberg and O'Brien buildings, was donated to Washington in 1984 by Mitsuo Mutai, head of Tokyo's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, to honor the state’s close ties to Japan. The grove is planted on a gentle slope that allows for good drainage. In Western Washington’s climate, these trees are in midlife. We expect them to live 75-100 years.
There is a second small grove of Yoshino trees near Tivoli fountain.
These trees are among the first campus trees to bloom each spring, in late March to early April, with millions of white flowers that look like snow when they fall. In contrast, the pink Kwanzan Flowering Cherry trees, located on the aptly named Cherry Lane, tend to bloom in mid- to late April.
When visiting the cherry trees, please be gentle and do not break off blossoming branches. The blooms fade quickly, but the damage is lasting. Broken limbs stress the trees and present a pathway for disease, shortening their lifespans.
Enjoy the following video about the 1984 planting of the Yoshino cherry tree grove.
