Sakura is a plum or cherry, and when the Japanese harvest

The whole world is delighted with photographs of Japan and China, when sakura blossoms in these countries, and no oriental garden or park can be imagined without this plant. Tourists specifically plan a trip to these countries in the spring to see such a miracle, and professional photographers look forward to the awakening of nature to make their best shots. When you look at all this blooming magnificence, the imagination paints a picture of the summer abundance of fruits, under the weight of which the branches of sakura are bent. But what is this plant, cherry, or maybe plum? And why do we never hear about the harvest, because the fruits must ripen on such a huge number of flowering trees?

In fact, sakura is not just one specific plant, but a group of early flowering shrubs and low trees from the Plum subfamily. So, for example, in Tokyo's Shinjuku-goen park, a collection of 75 different types of sakura is collected. These shrubs bloom in early spring, before the dissolution of the leaves, so the blooming sakura resembles a magic cloud. Since sakura are different types of plants, it has flowers of different colors, from pure white to bright pink. But most often, sakura means representatives of the subgenus of cherries, finely sawed cherries are especially popular. In the wild, this unpretentious plant is found on the Japanese archipelago, as well as on the mainland - in China and on the Korean Peninsula. Without pruning and under favorable conditions, this cherry grows to the size of a full-fledged tree, more than 20 meters high. But those specimens that are used for decorative purposes, of course, are subject to regular pruning and crown formation.

But if today this shrub is widely cultivated and can be found in any Chinese or Japanese garden, then in ancient times, the Japanese admired the wild species found in abundance on the islands. In Japan, there is even a separate word denoting the tradition of contemplation of blooming sakura - khans, which has been known since the VIII century. Despite its venerable age, this tradition does not even think of disappearing - millions of Japanese people all over the country go to parks and city streets in order to see this natural miracle. Moreover, especially in order for every resident of the country to be able to plan admiring sakura in advance, Japan publishes a forecast of flowering dates in various prefectures, which is compiled by meteorological services. But the most striking thing is that next to the main meteorological posts of Japan, a sakura tree is surely growing, according to which climatologists draw up flowering forecast maps.

But most types of sakura, including the widespread finely sawn cherry, have small inedible fruits, most of which are stone. For this reason, sakura fruits are consumed mainly by birds, and people only admire the magnificent flowering.