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Yoshino Cherry Scientific Name: Prunus x yedoensis Common Name: Yoshino Cherry Division: Magnoliophyta Family: Rosaceae Genus: Prunus GENERAL DESCRIPTION The Yoshino Cherry is the most common ornamental flowering cherry in Central Park.  It is a true harbinger of spring, with the flowers appearing in mid- to late-April — before there is any other tree in leaf or flower — giving the appearance of puffy clouds in the landscape. Some of the older specimens of Yoshino Cherries along the east side of the Reservoir may be the original trees presented as a gift to the United States by Japan in 1912. Yoshino Cherry tree along the east drive off the Reservoir

Flower   Small, 1/2- to 5/8-inch diameter, numerous and spectacularly showy, light pink in bud opening to clouds of white, appearing before tree leafs out. Fruit Round, 1/2 inch in diameter, turning black when ripe in June - July. Not showy. Leaf   Elliptical, 2 to 4 inches long, dark green, finely serrated. Good orange fall color. Bark   Smooth, reddish-gray, with large horizontal lenticels.   Form: Small-sized, up to 30 feet. LOCATIONS IN CENTRAL PARK East side of Reservoir  Lilac Walk  (northeast Sheep Meadow)  Conservatory Water, inside the Park betweem 73rd and 75th Streets off Fifth Avenue Ramble, mid-Park between 73rd and 79th Streets  Cherry Hill, mid-Park at 72nd Street  Delacorte Theater, mid-Park at 80th Street  Southeast edge of Great Lawn Photo Credit: Salisbury University Arboretum, www.salisbury.edu/arboretum/welcome.html Matthew Brown, Central Park Conservancy Neil Calvanese, Central Park Conservancy