Keele University's nationally renowned collection of flowering cherry trees has reached a milestone with the planting of the 300th tree.

The tree was planted as part of the University’s 75th anniversary celebrations in a ceremony attended by a representative from the Embassy of Japan in the UK, and former Foreign Office diplomat and two-time Olympian Mara Yamauchi.

Keele has one of the largest collections of flowering cherry trees in the UK and Europe with around 230 different varieties, including some that can’t be found in Japan. It has previously been awarded National Plant Collection status by Plant Heritage, the world's leading plant conversation and research charity.

Kayo Iwakami, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in the UK, said: "It's a great pleasure to participate in this memorial ceremony, celebrating both the 75th anniversary of Keele University and the planting of the 300th flowering cherry tree.

"I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to the experts who have diligently protected and nurtured these trees. I also hope that all who visit here will enjoy the beauty of the trees and that the spirit of friendship they symbolise will continue to strengthen in the years to come."

The springtime arrival of cherry blossom is a significant event in Japan, with many festivals held and daily coverage given to them on national news. Keele has been planted with flowering cherries since the first ornamental grounds were laid out in the 1940s. Since then, many flowering cherries have been added around the 600-acre campus, and springtime at Keele is now synonymous with cherry blossom.

The latest tree to join the collection, named Prunus nipponica, also called Japanese alpine cherry, was planted in the University’s Memorial Garden. As part of the event, Mara Yamauchi, a former elite marathon runner who competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and came runner-up in the 2009 London Marathon, gave a public lecture on her life and career for the latest instalment in the Professor Fumiko Yonezawa Memorial Lecture Series.

Toshihiko Kitagawa, a lecturer in Japanese at Keele who helped to organise the planting ceremony, said: "It was fantastic to bring representatives from the Embassy of Japan in the UK to Keele for this milestone occasion. This is actually the second time in two years that we’ve had someone from the embassy come to Keele to help plant a cherry tree, and from speaking with them, I know they really appreciate the collection that we have here at the University.

"Keele has proudly been welcoming Japanese students to study here for many years and we hope this tree planting is a symbol of our ongoing friendship and study links with Japan."