Tree Facts

Family: Rosaceae
Type
Deciduous
Fall color
Flowering
Pollinator habitat
Size
Medium (25-50 feet)
Small (less than 25 feet)

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
View on Google Maps

Story of the Tree

The grove of 40 Yoshino trees on the north side of the Legislative Building, between the Cherberg and O'Brien buildings, was donated to Washington in 1984 by Mitsuo Mutai, 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.