Higan Cherry Flower

Description:
This weeping Higan cherry stands in Grove Street Cemetery. In mid-April it is a waterfall of pink blossoms when the surrounding trees remain bare. The common name of this tree derives from Ohigan, a Buddhist holiday celebrated in its native Japan on the autumnal and spring equinoxes. This particular weeping Higan cherry is 7.3m tall, although the species can grow to over 12m at maturity. Weeping Higan cherries can be remarkably long-lived: one famous tree in Japan is over 1,000 years old. Although the trees themselves may live centuries, the flowers linger only for a short time and consequently the cherry blossoms have long symbolized not only spring, but also the transience of all things.
The tree is single-trunked; the trunk typically branches 5 to 6 feet above the ground. The bark is initially a copper-bronze color and features long, horizontal lenticels. With age, the bark becomes gray, scaly, plate-like, and prone to fissures that release a thick, viscous sap. The tree features very few spur shoots - most flowers grow from buds along the straight, slender, comparatively unbranched weeping twigs. Twigs grow rapidly at the weeping terminals, and more moderately from the upper arching shoots. The weeping Higan cherry has simple, alternate leaves with an ovate or ovate-oblong shape, serrate leaf margins, and pinnate venation. The tree is deciduous and the autumn leaf color is yellow or orange. In the spring the green leaves emerge shortly after the blossoms first appear. The leaves are about 2 to 4 inches long. The weeping Higan cherry has pale pink flowers about 0.5 to 1 inch in diameter that are pollinated by bees. The blossoms are semidouble, complete flowers that grow in clusters of 4 to 8 blossoms. The tree flowers in mid to late April. The fruits are small oval drupes (about 0.33 to .5 in. diameter) that ripen from red to black in autumn. They are sparse and hidden by the foliage. The fruit is eaten and the seeds are dispersed by animals such as squirrels.
Habitat:
The weeping Higan cherry is native to Japan and thrives throughout the archipelago. It was one of the first varieties of Japanese cherry blossom trees introduced to the U.S. and Europe in the mid to late 19th century. The tree thrives in USDA hardiness zones 5 to 8 (average annual minimum temperature -20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit).
Origin, history, and uses:
The weeping Higan cherry is native to Japan, where it is called beni-shidare zakura (pink weeping cherry). The weeping Higan cherry is one of more than a dozen species of cherry blossom trees. These species of the genus Prunus are valued for the beauty of their flowers and do not produce fruit that is edible by humans. The weeping Higan cherry and other cherry blossom trees are culturally significant as symbols of spring both in Japan and in others regions where they have been introduced. In Japan, the springtime custom