Cherry blossom

A cherry blossom, also known as a Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of trees in the genus Prunus or the Prunus subgenus Cerasus. Wild species of the cherry tree are widely distributed, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. They are common in East Asia, especially in Japan. They generally refer to ornamental cherry trees, not cherry trees grown for their fruit. The cherry blossom is considered the national flower of Japan. In Europe, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Collingwood Ingram collected and studied Japanese cherry blossoms and created various ornamental cultivars. The culture of ornamental cherry blossoms soon began to spread. In the United States, ornamental cherry blossoms began to spread after Japan presented them as a token of friendship in 1912. Cherry blossoms have been described as having a beautiful smell, and have been the inspiration for many candles and incense. In the mainstream classification in Europe and North America, cherry trees for ornamental purposes are classified into the genus Prunus, which consists of about 400 species. In the mainstream classification in Japan, China, and Russia, on the other hand, ornamental cherry trees are classified into the genus Cerasus, which consists of about 100 species separated from the genus Prunus. The genus Cerasus omits Prunus salicina, Prunus persica (Peach), Prunus mume, and Prunus grayana, amongst others. In Europe and North America, however, there were few wild cherry trees with large flowers suitable for viewing cherry blossoms. Many of them were different from the typical cherry tree shapes and flowers for cherry blossom viewing that people today imagine. In mainland China, there has been a culture of viewing plum blossoms since ancient times, and there were many wild species of cherry blossoms, but many of them had small flowers, and the distribution area of wild species of cherry blossoms, which bore large flowers suitable for hanami, was often limited to a small area away from people's living areas.

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