The Japanese cherry blossom, or Sakura, captivates millions worldwide with its brief, spectacular springtime display. This cultural phenomenon, celebrated for its delicate beauty and fleeting nature, immediately raises a practical question for many observers: Do these magnificent flowering trees produce the sweet, plump fruit found in grocery stores? The simple answer is that the vast majority of ornamental Japanese cherry trees are not cultivated to produce the kind of edible fruit humans typically enjoy.
The Purpose of Ornamental Breeding
The reason these trees do not yield commercial fruit is rooted in centuries of intentional human selection and breeding. Cultivars like the popular ‘Yoshino’ (Prunus × yedoensis) and ‘Kwanzan’ (Prunus serrulata) were developed specifically to maximize aesthetic qualities. Breeders focused on prolific flower production, larger bloom size, extended flowering periods, and striking double blossoms.
This focus on floral aesthetics alters the tree’s energy allocation and reproductive biology. Resources are channeled into producing an abundance of petals and showy displays rather than developing large, fleshy fruit. Many double-flowered varieties, such as ‘Kanzan’, exhibit floral sterility because reproductive organs like the pistil are modified into extra petals. This modification prevents fertilization, often resulting in no fruit production.
The Small Fruit of the Sakura Tree
While most ornamental varieties are poor fruit producers, they often still generate a small, dark fruit known botanically as a drupe. This fruit reminds us that the ornamental cherry tree shares the same genus, Prunus, as fruit-bearing cherries. These diminutive drupes are typically pea-sized, measuring only a few millimeters across, and are dark red or black when mature.
The flesh of this tiny fruit is bitter, tart, and astringent, making it unpalatable for human consumption. They contain a relatively large, hard pit, which reduces the minimal edible portion. Instead of being harvested, these small cherries usually fall to the ground or are consumed by birds, providing them a natural food source.
Identifying True Edible Cherry Trees
The cherries sold commercially are produced by species bred for entirely different goals than the ornamental Sakura. The two primary species for global consumption are the Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium) and the Tart or Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus). Breeders prioritize traits like large fruit size, high sugar content, firm flesh, resistance to splitting, and uniform ripening.
Sweet cherry varieties, including ‘Bing’ and ‘Rainier’, are typically eaten fresh and grow up to 30 millimeters in diameter. Many sweet cherry cultivars are self-incompatible and require a separate, compatible variety nearby for cross-pollination. In contrast, tart cherries, such as ‘Montmorency’, are generally too sour to eat raw and are used extensively for baking, preserves, and juice production. These tart varieties are often self-fertile, meaning a single tree can produce fruit without a dedicated pollinator. While both fruiting species produce blossoms, their flowers are typically smaller, have only five petals, and are less visually dominant than the showy, multi-petaled blooms of their ornamental Japanese cousins.