Classification The classification of cherry blossoms varies from country to country and from period to period. For example, in the Japanese classification,
P. serrulata Lindl. f.
albida,
P. serrulata var.
spontanea,
P. serrulata var.
pubescens and
P. serrulata Lindl. var.
sachalinensis, the
varieties and
form constituting this
species, are classified as independent species because of their genetic, morphological, and flowering time differences. There are several
varieties and
form (or species): • '''
Prunus serrulata f.
albida (syn. Prunus speciosa'''). Japan. • '''
Prunus serrulata var.
spontanea or Prunus serrulata f.
spontanea (syn. Prunus yamasakura'''). Japan. :Some books say that
P. yamasakura grows wild in China and Korea, but
P. leveilleana and
P. sargentii were mistaken for
P. yamasakura. • '''
Prunus serrulata var.
sachalinensis (syn. Prunus sargentii'''). Japan, Korea, eastern Russia, China.
Trees and flowers Prunus serrulata is a small
deciduous tree with a short single trunk, with a dense crown reaching a height of . The smooth
bark is chestnut-brown, with prominent horizontal
lenticels. The
leaves are arranged alternately, simple, ovate-lanceolate, 5–13 cm long and 2.5–6.5 cm broad, with a short
petiole and a serrate or doubly serrate margin. At the end of autumn, the green leaves turn yellow, red or crimson. The
flowers are produced in clusters of two to five together at nodes on short spurs in spring at the same time as the new leaves appear; they are white to pink, with five petals in the wild type tree. Its
fruit, the , has differences from the
Prunus avium in that sakuranbo are smaller in size and more bitter in taste; the sakuranbo is a
globose black
drupe 8–10mm in diameter. Owing to their bitter taste, the raw sakuranbo is unpalatable and rarely eaten; instead, the seed inside is removed and the fleshy part preserved. Because of its evolution, the fruit developed merely as a small, ovoid cherry-like fruit, but it doesn't develop past a small amount of fleshy mass around the seed; as
P. serrulata was bred for its flowers, its fruits do not enlarge the way cherry varieties bred for their fruit do. ==Cultivars==