Prunus serrulata, Japanese cherry

Prunus serrulata or Japanese Cherry is a small to medium-size deciduous tree with a single stem. It is native to Japan, Korea and China. Subsequently it was brought to Britain and now it’s very popular garden tree.

This Japanese Cherry is located in All Saints Park, next to MMU Library. It has other cherry neighbours but in general it is the biggest and probably the oldest Cherry tree in the park. It receives lots of sunlight and is very well looked after.

The Japanece Cherry bark is purple-brown, ringed by horizontal lines of prominent lenticels. Its branches are usually fanning out from the bole and finishing in smooth twigs.

The leaves are oval in shape up to 20cm long, sharply toothed and petiole smooth, up to 4cm long with up to 4 red glands near the base.

The flowers are produced in clusters of 2-4, opening just before the leaves. The fruits are 7mm long and deep purple, but seldom develop in cultivated tree.