Cherry blossoms in bloom, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, 2016.

Any flower of the genus Prunus, also called 'sakura' after the Japanese, are known as cherry blossoms. Speculated to be native to the Himalayas, it is now widely-distributed, especially in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. They are closely-related to other Prunus trees such as almond, peach, plum, apricot and, more distantly, apple, pear and rose.