Species and varieties in the National Collection of Flowering Cherries at

Keele University

Typical Label

Many of the trees mentioned here and on other pages have a label attached to them.

Each tree has a unique identifier - its tag number.

The label shows the Scientific name, English name, the tree tag number and, when known, the date of planting.

This is a complete list of all the flowering cherries that we have at Keele. The list will change as we add new ones and, sadly, when we loose trees. Follow the link to location maps at foot of each page. The grid on the map will help you to locate trees if you are planning a visit.

You can download a List and location of cherries December 2024 here.

Name changes

Be aware that the taxonomy of flowering cherries is quite fluid and frequent changes of name occur.

Sato-zakura group

In the past it has often been the practice to attach the names of Japanese  flowering cherries of garden origin to a particular species, usually Prunus serrulata Lind. or  Prunus lannesiana (Carrière) E H Wilson.  Modern DNA research has confirmed that these cultivars are invariably hybrids derived mainly from three native Japanese species – Oshima Cherry (P. speciosa), Japanese Mountain Cherry (P. jamasakura) and Sargent’s Cherry (P. sargentii) and therefore cannot be assigned to any one species.  In 1984, two USA workers, Jefferson & Wain, first proposed the term Sato-zakura group (Sato = village, sakura = cherry) as a convenient way of grouping together these cherries of garden origin in Japan with an uncertain parentage and this has been adopted on this website.  It is also in use in recent Japanese literature and is compliant with the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.  Cultivars raised outside Japan, such as ‘Pink Perfection’ (UK)  and ‘Royal Burgundy’ (USA) are excluded from the Sato-zakura Group.

Members of the Sato-zakura group are indicated below.

A

 B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

W

Y

Z