Prunus serrulata (syn. Cerasus serrulata (Lindl.) Loudon; Japanese Cherry, also called Hill Cherry, Oriental Cherry or East Asian Cherry, is a species of cherry native to Japan, Korea and China.
It is a small deciduous tree with a short single trunk, with a dense crown reaching a height of about 8-12 m. The smooth bark is chestnut-brown, with prominent horizontal lenticels. The leaves are arranged alternately, simple, ovate-lanceolate, 5-13 cm long and 2.5-6.5 cm broad, with a short petiole and a serrate or doubly serrate margin. At the end of autumn, the green leaves turn yellow, red or crimson. The flowers are produced in racemose clusters of two to five together at nodes on short spurs in spring at the same time as the new leaves appear; they are white to pink, with five petals in the wild type tree. The fruit is a globose black drupe 8-10 mm diameter.
There are several varieties:
