Complimentary 
NEW SERIES VOL. V 
NO. 2 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. MAY 6, 1919 
Japanese Cherry-trees. Of the numerous Asiatic Cherry-trees now 
established in the Arboretum the handsomest with single flowers are 
Prunus serrulata var. sachalinensis y the Sargent Cherry, P. subhir- 
tella, and P. yedoensis. These three trees have flowered and produced 
their fruit for many years in the Arboretum, and have shown the 
ability to adapt themselves perfectly to the peculiar and difficult con¬ 
ditions of the New England climate. P. serrulata var. sachalinensis 
is the northern form of a Cherry-tree which occurs in three varieties 
in Japan, Korea, and central China. It was once an important tree in 
the forests of northern Japan and Saghalien but has now been largely 
cut for the wood which has been used for printing blocks. This Cherry 
was first raised here from seeds sown in 1890, and when in flower is 
the handsomest tree introduced by the Arboretum into western gardens. 
The delicate pink or rose-colored flowers are short-lived, but the hand¬ 
some foliage which is distinctly tinged with red as the leaves unfold 
turns to brilliant shades of orange and red in the autumn. Prunus 
serrulata and its varieties have produced a number of forms with double 
flowers, and these are the hardiest and most valuable of the double- 
flowered Japanese Cherries which can be grown successfully in this 
climate. There are fourteen double-flowered named varieties of the 
Sargent Cherry in the Arboretum Collection, but only two or three 
of them are large enough to have flowered here. These double-flowered 
Cherries bloom two or three weeks later than the single-flowered trees, 
and from these may be expected some of the handsomest flowering trees 
which are hardy in the north. Although double-flowered Japanese 
Cherry-trees have been cultivated in the United States and Europe 
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