Japanese Cherry Blossoms, or Sakura, are ornamental trees celebrated for their spectacular spring bloom. These trees are cultivated primarily for their aesthetic value, leading many people to wonder if they also produce the familiar, edible fruit. The answer depends heavily on the specific variety grown. Generally, the ornamental trees that produce the iconic pink and white displays do not yield the sweet, fleshy cherries found in grocery stores.
Understanding Sterile Hybrids
Many popular Japanese cherry trees planted in parks and urban settings are cultivated varieties, known as cultivars, specifically bred for their impressive flower displays. Cultivars like the Yoshino (Prunus x yedoensis) and the double-flowering Kwanzan are often the result of complex hybridization between different cherry species. This selection process prioritizes traits such as flower size, color intensity, and bloom duration over fruit production.
A significant number of these ornamental varieties are effectively sterile, meaning they struggle to complete the full reproductive cycle required to set fruit. This sterility is often a consequence of being triploid, possessing three sets of chromosomes instead of the standard two found in fertile plants. The genetic imbalance interrupts the normal development of viable ovules and pollen, resulting in a tree that produces flowers but rarely develops a fully mature fruit.
The lack of fruit is a direct outcome of centuries of selective cultivation for purely aesthetic purposes. This distinction separates the trees grown for spring beauty from those intended for commercial fruit yield.
Characteristics of the Fruit That Does Form
While many common cultivars are sterile, some ornamental varieties or their closer-to-nature predecessors occasionally manage to produce small fruits, which are botanically classified as drupes. When these pit fruits form, they are distinct from commercial cherries in both size and palatability. They typically remain quite small, often measuring no larger than a pea, and ripen to a dark red or near-black color.
The fruit that develops possesses a high pit-to-flesh ratio, offering little edible pulp. Furthermore, the flavor profile is intensely tart, bitter, or astringent, making them undesirable for human consumption. These characteristics indicate that the tree’s reproductive energy was not directed toward creating a sweet, fleshy fruit.
Any fruit that successfully matures is usually left on the tree or consumed by local wildlife, such as birds. Therefore, even when an ornamental cherry tree sets fruit, it does not contribute to the human food supply.
Why Edible Cherries Come From Different Species
The sweet, plump cherries that consumers purchase originate from entirely different species within the Prunus genus. These commercial trees have been selectively bred over millennia for maximum fruit size, sweetness, and high yield. The primary source of sweet cherries worldwide is Prunus avium, commonly known as the Wild Cherry or Sweet Cherry.
Another distinct species, Prunus cerasus, is the source of the sour or tart cherries frequently used in baking and preserves. Both Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus possess genetic structures optimized for fruit production, having been cultivated to allocate significant resources to the development of large, palatable drupes. The successful fruit development in these species contrasts sharply with the reproductive challenges of many ornamental hybrids.
The ornamental Japanese cherry trees and the commercial fruit-bearing cherry trees serve entirely separate botanical and commercial purposes, despite belonging to the same genus. The former is a product of aesthetic selection, while the latter is a result of selection for nutritional and culinary value. This genetic separation explains why one is celebrated for its flowers and the other for its harvest.