Tree Description
The Japanese Flowering Cherry is an Angiosperm. The scientific name for this tree is Prunus Serrulata and it originated in Asia, specifically Japan, Korea and China. Though now it is found all over the world. Prunus Serrulata is known as a variable species that can form natural hybrids with other trees. Natural hybrids led to a widespread cultivation of this specific species over centuries which are now planted throughout Europe and North America. The way it is differentiated from other trees are the patterns in it’s leaves, flowers and bark. The shape of it’s leaves are an ovate-lanceolate with pointy tips and the leaves are a dark green until the end of autumn they begin to turn yellow, red or a crimson cherry color. The bark is smooth and a chestnut brown color. Naturally, the Prunus Serrulata attracts pollinating insects like bees that feed on its nectar.
Current Research
Ethnobotany:
The beautiful Japanese Flowering Cherry tree is not only pleasure to the human eye for it’s vibrant colors and majestic blossoms, but also is a major symbol across the world. Many different species of the Japanese Flowering Cherry are cultivated for decorative purposes, specifically for their flower blossoms that cover the whole tree with shades of pink or white. These trees today are mainly just used for garden use for their beauty but in the past this tree was a very important aspect in Japanese culture.
The cherry blossoms that come from the tree along with it’s leaves are eatable and both are used as food ingredients in Japan. The Japanese use the blossoms to pickle them in salt and a certain kind of vinegar to put on top of traditional Japanese dishes and foods. At celebratory events like weddings, these salt-pickled blossoms can be put in hot water to make a tea called Sakurayu and drunk instead of green tea. Since the blossoms of the Japanese Flowering Tree have very short lives and fall off the tree shortly after being blossomed, they represent this extreme beauty with a quick death to the Japanese people. For this reason of having this transience life of the blossoms, they are richly symbolic and have been used in many different forms of Japanese art and expression.
During the time period of World War ll, the symbol of a cherry blossom had the power to motivate the people to encourage nationalism and militarism over the population. Pilots would paint a cherry blossom on their planes or even bring along with them a branch from a tree before boarding on a suicide mission. The way the pilots and their planes would fall from the sky like the petals and cherry blossoms from a tree symbolizes their extreme beauty (because they are doing this in honor of the emperor) and with a quick death (because no pilots returned from these missions).
The beautiful Japanese Flowering Cherry tree is not only pleasure to the human eye for it’s vibrant colors and majestic blossoms, but also is a major symbol across the world. Many different species of the Japanese Flowering Cherry are cultivated for decorative purposes, specifically for their flower blossoms that cover the whole tree with shades of pink or white. These trees today are mainly just used for garden use for their beauty but in the past this tree was a very important aspect in Japanese culture.
The cherry blossoms that come from the tree along with it’s leaves are eatable and both are used as food ingredients in Japan. The Japanese use the blossoms to pickle them in salt and a certain kind of vinegar to put on top of traditional Japanese dishes and foods. At celebratory events like weddings, these salt-pickled blossoms can be put in hot water to make a tea called Sakurayu and drunk instead of green tea. Since the blossoms of the Japanese Flowering Tree have very short lives and fall off the tree shortly after being blossomed, they represent this extreme beauty with a quick death to the Japanese people. For this reason of having this transience life of the blossoms, they are richly symbolic and have been used in many different forms of Japanese art and expression.
During the time period of World War ll, the symbol of a cherry blossom had the power to motivate the people to encourage nationalism and militarism over the population. Pilots would paint a cherry blossom on their planes or even bring along with them a branch from a tree before boarding on a suicide mission. The way the pilots and their planes would fall from the sky like the petals and cherry blossoms from a tree symbolizes their extreme beauty (because they are doing this in honor of the emperor) and with a quick death (because no pilots returned from these missions).
Creative Writing
In the eighth grade I took a trip to Washington DC with my class. There are a huge amount of Japanese Flowering Cherry trees all over the capitol including a row of them that are planted by the Jefferson Memorial. I remember the moment I was walking under all of the cherry blossomed trees just looking up at all the little bloomed flowers. To think that this tree is this natural occurring thing that just produces all of these identical little pink flowers blew my mind. This was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever scene within a city and I just thought how everyone needed to see these at some point in his or her lives.
References
Dickinson, F. R. (n.d). KAMIKAZE, CHERRY BLOSSOMS, AND NATIONALISMS: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History (Book). Pacific Affairs, 76(4), 661-662.
Hongmei, M., Olsen, R., Pooler, M., & Kramer, M. (2009). Evaluation of Flowering Cherry Species, Hybrids, and Cultivars Using Simple Sequence Repeat Markers. Journal Of The American Society For Horticultural Science, 134(4), 435-444.
Ohnuki-Tierney, E. (2002). Kamikaze, cherry blossoms, and nationalisms [electronic resource] : the militarization of aesthetics in Japanese history / Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Piers Brendon, The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s, p441
Uran, C., Liz, M., Yun, J. I., & Soo-Hyung, K. (2011). Predicting the Timing of Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC and Mid-Atlantic States in Response to Climate Change. Plos ONE, 6(11), 1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027439
Hongmei, M., Olsen, R., Pooler, M., & Kramer, M. (2009). Evaluation of Flowering Cherry Species, Hybrids, and Cultivars Using Simple Sequence Repeat Markers. Journal Of The American Society For Horticultural Science, 134(4), 435-444.
Ohnuki-Tierney, E. (2002). Kamikaze, cherry blossoms, and nationalisms [electronic resource] : the militarization of aesthetics in Japanese history / Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Piers Brendon, The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s, p441
Uran, C., Liz, M., Yun, J. I., & Soo-Hyung, K. (2011). Predicting the Timing of Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC and Mid-Atlantic States in Response to Climate Change. Plos ONE, 6(11), 1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027439