Prunus sargentii
Common name: 
Sargent Cherry
Sargent's Cherry
Pronunciation: 
PROO-nus sar-JEN-te-i
Family: 
Rosaceae
Genus: 
Synonyms: 
ō-yama-zukura Japan
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf deciduous tree, 20-30(75) ft [6-9(23) m] high, nearly equal spread, reddish brown stem, prominent horizontal lenticels.  Leaves alternate, simple, sharply serrated, 7.5-13 cm long, about half as wide, elliptic-obovate, purplish or bronzy when unfolding, red or bronze in fall.  Flowers, single, pink, 3-4 cm wide, in 2-6 flowered clusters (umbels) on pedicels 2.5-3 cm long.  Fruit ovoid, purple-black, about 1 cm long, bitter.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone (3b) 4, one of the hardiest of the Oriental cherries.    Native to Korea and northern Japan, especially on the northern island of Hokkaido and northern Honshu, Japan’s main island.  Introduced 1890.
  • Two popular selections:
    • 'Columnaris'  -   a narrow, upright, vase-shaped form
    • 'Rancho'  -  narrower than 'Columnaris' with and upright habit, 25 ft tall by 10 ft wide (8 x 4.5 m).
  • sargentii: named by Alfred Rehder to honor Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927), an American botanists, first director of the Arnold Arboretum, his Forest Flora of Japan was published in 1894.
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