Miyama cherry is an East Asian wild cherry that blooms late, after its leaves are out, with small white flowers in short clusters. Leafy at each flower stay on through fruiting, which makes it unusual among cherries. It is not native to the US but has been grown here since 1892, and it is also called Korean mountain cherry.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A deciduous tree, usually about 16–33 ft (5–10 m) tall and up to about 50 ft (15 m) in the largest specimens, with a slender trunk.
- Leaves
- Oval to obovate leaves 1½–3 in (4–8 cm) long, pointed, with doubly toothed edges and downy veins underneath. In North America they turn brilliant scarlet in fall.
- Flowers
- Dull white flowers about ⅝ in (1.5 cm) across, 6–10 in a 2–3½ in (5–9 cm) long, in May.
- Fruit
- Small, shiny, round cherries about ¼ in (5–9 mm) across that turn from red to black in late summer. The flesh stays bitter even when ripe.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Mountain forests
- Woodland
- Range
- Native to Korea, northeastern China, the Russian Far East (including Sakhalin), and Japan. In the US it is known only in cultivation; Charles Sargent introduced it to the US in 1892.
Growing it
- Care
- Very hardy, but grown more as a curiosity than for show; its flowers and fruit are less striking than those of the popular flowering cherries.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
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