The Cherry Trees were gifts from Japan. 3.020 trees were sent to the United States in 1912 as living symbols of the friendship between the two nations.  Along with the monuments and memorials the cherry trees serve as symbols of the beauty and brevity of life, within lays the equality of our shared mortality.  The appreciation for the cherry blossoms shows the universality of the human mind and spirit.

Through out the years the United States and Japan have worked together to keep the trees genetic lineage from dying off.  The cycle of gift giving continues today and the trees continue to symbolize the friendship between the nations.

The trees produce a pea-sized cherry that develops shortly after flowering. They begin small and green and increase in size and color in early summer, turning dark purple to black.  This fruit is bitter with very little "flesh" surrounding the pit. They are eaten by birds and are usually gone by midsummer.

Information was found in the Cherry Blossom Trail Guide.