Tree of the day: Prunus sargentii, North Japanese hill cherry or Sargent's cherry, Polly Vacher West
Prunus sargentii is a species of deciduous broadleaf flowering plants (in the Rosaceae or Rose family), native to Japan, Korea and the Russian far East.
Prunus sargentii is a species of deciduous broadleaf flowering plants (in the Rosaceae or Rose family), native to Japan, Korea and the Russian far East. It produces abundant pale pink to white flowers in spring, followed by small fruits in summer. The foliage emerges bronze-green, develops into rich green during summer, and turns brilliant orange, red and scarlet in autumn. The tree was introduced to the USA by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Boston during the late 1800s, and is named after its director, Charles Sprague Sargent. Being among the most beautiful of cherry trees in both blossom and autumn colour, it makes an excellent specimen for parks and gardens, as well being suitable as a street tree.
about this species
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This photo is one of 9624 photos of 872 trees in 329 species
This website is a virtual arboretum, created for interest, education and beauty. It exhibits some of the thousands of trees, of both native and exotic species, that grow in Whiteknights Park, the main campus of the University of Reading. Many of them have been planted since the university arrived in 1947, but some have been here since the 19th century or earlier, when Whiteknights was the gardens and parkland of large houses. Nine of the trees are listed as the British Isles champions of their species in The Tree Register.
Please send any comments about this website to whiteknights-trees@reading.ac.uk.
The previous version of this website is here.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank: Rupert Taylor, Owen Johnson, Alastair Culham, Jonathan Mitchley, Marcus Wheeler, Benoît Vannière, Miguel Teixeira and Claire Hawkins for tree identifications; Brian Hunt and Trevor Smith for testing routes and contributing text; Dylan Parkes, Martin Watts, Emilija Rudzinskaite, Brian and Trevor for collaboration on the centenary project; Dan Hodson for useful code examples; Studio Lift for website style; Brian, Trevor and Nathanaël van Twillert for comments and suggestions on website user experience; Benoît, Marcus, Steve George, Brian, Trevor, the Friends of the University of Reading, and other friends for their encouragement during the development of the website; the University and its grounds staff for maintaining Whiteknights Park.