Cherry blossom facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Japanese Cherry |
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| Somei Yoshino Sakura | |
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Prunus jamasakura |
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Cherry blossom or sakura (Japanese kanji and Chinese character: 桜 or 櫻; katakana: サクラ) are cherry trees, Prunus serrulata, and their blossoms. The fruit comes from a different species. Cherry trees are a symbol of spring for Japanese people. The word Sakura can also be used as a name for women. The traditional custom of Hanami or Flower viewing involves visiting places where sakura are blooming. Japanese people love cherry blossoms, but they are not the national flower in Japan. Someiyoshino is the most famous type of sakura.
Classification
There are approximately 400 different types of cherry trees. They mutate easily.
Flower
Most of the flowers are white or pink with five petals, but there are some flowers with almost a hundred petals.
Related terms
- Hanahubuki means a scene when the cherry petals are scattered like snow.
- Cosmos flowers are called Akizakura (autumn cherry blossoms) because the flower's shape is similar to a cherry blossom.
Culinary use
Cherry blossoms and leaves are edible and both are used as food ingredients in Japan:
- The blossoms are pickled in salt and umezu (ume vinegar), and used for coaxing out flavor in wagashi, (a traditional Japanese confectionery,) or anpan, (a Japanese sweet bun, most-commonly filled with red bean paste.)
- Salt-pickled blossoms in hot water are called sakurayu, and drunk at festive events like weddings in place of green tea.
- The leaves, mostly from the Ōshima cherry because of the softness, are also pickled in salted water and used for sakuramochi.
Since the leaves contain coumarin, which is toxic in large doses, it is not recommended to eat them in great quantities.
Related pages
Images for kids
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Prunus speciosa (Oshima cherry). The characteristics of the species gave rise to many cultivars.
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Prunus serrulata 'Kanzan' or 'Sekiyama'. It is one of the most popular cherry tree cultivars in Europe and North America. One of the cultivars was selected for the British Award of Garden Merit.
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Cherry blossoms at Sugimura park, Hashimoto
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Yachounomori Garden, Tatebayashi, Gunma, Japan
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Cherry blossoms in Seattle
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Yoshino cherry, a cultivar propagated through grafting, reaches full bloom at the same time under the same environment.
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Prunus × yedoensis 'Somei-yoshino' (Yoshino cherry). The most popular cherry tree cultivar in Japan and the Asian region. One of the cultivars selected for the British Award of Garden Merit.
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Woodblock print of Mount Fuji and cherry blossom from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hiroshige
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A tree about 2,000 years old Jindai-zakura.
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'Kanzan' is a double-flowered cultivar developed in the Edo period. It has 20 to 50 petals in a flower.
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A 100 yen coin depicting cherry blossom
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Cherry blossoms at Himeji Castle, Japan
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Prunus itosakura 'Pendula Rosea' (Beni-shidare). A tree over 1000 years old "Miharu Takizakura".
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Prunus serrulata 'Chousiuhizakura'. Also known as Kenrokuen-kumagai. Large flowers and red leaves open at the same time. A DNA study in 2013 revealed that two were the same cultivar.
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Prunus × subhirtella 'Omoigawa'. 'Omoigawa' which was produced in Oyama City in 1954 is known as a cultivar in which 'Jugatsu-zakura' was mutated.
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Prunus × kanzakura 'Kawazu-zakura' (Kawazu cherry). A representative cultivar of the cold season that blooms from late February to early March in Japan.
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Panoramic view from the Symbolic Mountain at the Japanese gardens. The view takes in the gardens and the plains of the Cowra district across to the nearby mountains.
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Cherry blossoms in Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
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Cherry Blossom marks the beginning of Spring in Vancouver
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Blooming cherry blossom trees in Parc de Sceaux, France
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Cherry blossoms on Breite Strasse in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Prunus cerasoides is a wild Himalayan cherry tree, a common type of cherry blossom in India.
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Cherry blossoms at POSTECH, South Korea
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Cherry blossom trees in a Korean campus.
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Sakura Amsterdamse Bos
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Cherry blossoms and water wheel in Hagley Park
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Cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C.
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Cherry blossoms bloom by the thousands every spring in Washington, D.C.
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Cherry blossoms in Newark, New Jersey
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Cherry blossoms in Owensboro, Kentucky
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BC Legislative Building with cherry trees in bloom, Victoria, British Columbia
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Cherry blossoms in Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
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Spring cherry blossoms at the university campus, Vancouver, Canada
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Cherry Tree Blossoms at Camosun College, Greater Victoria, British Columbia
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Cherry blossoms at Hamilton, Canada
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Cherry blossoms. Eastern Siberia
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Cherry blossom at Osaka Castle
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Cherry blossom at Mount Yoshino
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Cherry blossom, Jinlong Mountain, Taiwan.
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Thousands of people attend the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival every spring in Washington, D.C.
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Prunus × sieboldii 'Beni-yutaka'. One of the cultivars selected for the British Award of Garden Merit.
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See also
In Spanish: Sakura (cerezo) para niños
