Can You Eat the Cherries on a Cherry Blossom Tree?

The short answer is yes, you can eat the cherries from a cherry blossom tree, but you probably will not want to. Most ornamental cherry trees produce small, hard, sour fruits that are barely edible raw and can even pose a choking hazard due to their large pits and thin flesh. The tree you are likely admiring in spring is a close relative of the sweet cherry tree that gives you grocery store fruit, but it was bred for its flowers, not its flavor.

What Kind of Cherries Grow on Cherry Blossom Trees?

Cherry blossom trees belong to the genus Prunus, which includes plums, peaches, apricots, and almonds. The most common ornamental species are the Japanese cherry (Prunus serrulata), Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis), and Kwanzan cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kanzan'). These varieties produce small drupes that are usually about the size of a pea or a small marble.

The fruit is technically a cherry, but it is nothing like the Bing cherries you find at a supermarket. Ornamental cherry fruits are typically:

• Dark purple or black when fully ripe
• Very tart or bitter in flavor
• Thin-fleshed with a large pit that takes up most of the volume
• Often dry and mealy rather than juicy

Many ornamental cherry trees produce so little edible flesh that the fruit is not worth harvesting. Some varieties, such as the weeping cherry (Prunus subhirtella), produce fruit that is slightly sweeter, but still not pleasant for most people.

Are the Cherries from Ornamental Trees Safe to Eat?

Eating a few cherries from a cherry blossom tree will not poison you, but you need to be careful with the pits. The flesh itself is safe to eat, though it tastes unpleasant. The real concern comes from the cyanogenic glycosides found in the pits, seeds, and leaves of all cherry trees.

When you chew or crush a cherry pit, the compound amygdalin breaks down and releases small amounts of cyanide. Swallowing a whole pit is not dangerous because it will pass through your digestive system intact. But if you chew several pits, you risk mild cyanide poisoning. Symptoms include dizziness, headache, nausea, and difficulty breathing.

For an adult, eating one or two crushed pits is unlikely to cause serious harm, but it is best to avoid them entirely. Children are more vulnerable to cyanide poisoning because of their smaller body weight, so never let a child eat the pits.

The fruit flesh from ornamental cherries is safe in small amounts, but eating large quantities can cause stomach upset due to the high acidity and tannins. The taste alone usually discourages anyone from eating more than a few.

What Is the Difference Between Ornamental and Fruiting Cherry Trees?

Fruiting cherry trees are bred for large, sweet, juicy fruit. Ornamental cherry trees are bred for showy flowers, attractive bark, and compact growth habits. Here is a quick comparison:

Fruiting cherry trees include varieties like Bing, Rainier, Montmorency, and Stella. These trees still produce beautiful flowers, but the flowers are not as dense or fluffy as those on ornamental varieties. If you want both flowers and edible fruit, look for a dual-purpose cherry tree like 'Stella' or 'Lapins', which are self-pollinating and produce high-quality sweet cherries.

Can You Cook with Ornamental Cherry Fruit?

Yes, you can cook with the fruit from cherry blossom trees, but you will need to work around the large pits and thin flesh. The fruit works best in recipes that use small amounts of tart fruit, such as preserves, jellies, syrups, or infused vinegars.

To make ornamental cherry jam, you need to:

1. Gather a large quantity of fruit — at least 4 to 5 cups fresh fruit to get enough pulp after pitting.
2. Wash the fruit and remove the stems.
3. Pit each cherry. A cherry pitter makes this much faster, but you can also slice the fruit open and pop the pit out with your fingers.
4. Cook the fruit with sugar and lemon juice to balance the bitterness.
5. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining skin and fibers.

The resulting jelly has a deep, complex flavor that is more floral and tart than standard cherry jam. Some foragers describe it as tasting like sour cherries with hints of almond from the pits. Just be careful not to crush the pits during cooking, or you will introduce a bitter, medicinal taste.

Another option is to make cherry blossom fruit syrup. Simmer the fruit with water and sugar, strain it, and use the syrup in cocktails, lemonade, or over ice cream. The syrup has a beautiful dark red color and a subtle floral tartness.

What Are the Risks of Eating Ornamental Cherries?

Beyond the cyanide risk from pits, there are a few other concerns to keep in mind.

Pesticide residue is one of the biggest hidden dangers. Many ornamental cherry trees in parks, along streets, and in landscaping are sprayed with pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides that are not approved for food crops. Never eat fruit from a tree unless you know it has not been treated with chemicals. If the tree is in a public space, assume it has been sprayed.

Digestive upset from the high acid content is common if you eat more than a handful of raw fruit. The tannins in unripe fruit can cause a dry, puckering sensation in your mouth and irritation in your stomach.

Choking hazard is a real risk because the pits are large relative to the fruit. Children and pets should never be given these cherries whole.

Confusion with toxic look-alikes is rare but possible. If you are foraging, make sure you have positively identified the tree as a cherry. Some ornamental plants in the Prunus family, like choke cherry or laurel cherry, have fruits that are more toxic and should be avoided entirely.

When Are Ornamental Cherries Ripe Enough to Eat?

Ornamental cherries ripen in late spring to early summer, usually about 6 to 8 weeks after the tree finishes blooming. You know the fruit is ready when it turns a deep dark red, purple, or almost black color and feels slightly soft when squeezed gently.

Green or light red fruit is extremely bitter and contains higher levels of tannins. Wait until the fruit is fully colored and begins to fall off the tree naturally. Birds and squirrels are often the best indicators — when they start eating the fruit, it is safe for you to try a small taste.

Timing varies by climate and specific tree variety. In the southern United States, fruit may ripen by late May. In northern regions, it may not be ready until July.

How to Identify Whether Your Tree Produces Edible Fruit

If you have a cherry blossom tree in your yard and you are curious about the fruit, look at these features to decide whether it is worth harvesting.

1. Fruit size and shape — If the fruit is smaller than your thumbnail, it is an ornamental variety. Larger fruit that resembles a standard cherry comes from a fruiting variety.
2. Flesh thickness — Squeeze a ripe fruit gently. If you feel a hard pit immediately with almost no give, the flesh is too thin to bother with.
3. Taste test — Try one small ripe fruit. If it makes you pucker immediately, cooking with sugar is your only option. If it tastes mildly sweet or sour like a tart cherry, you have a better candidate.
4. Tree form — Ornamental trees often have multi-trunk forms, weeping branches, or double-flowered blooms. Fruiting trees usually have a single trunk and simpler single flowers.

If the fruit is tiny, bitter, and mostly pit, your best use for it is to leave it for birds and wildlife. If the fruit is medium-sized and tart, you can try making jelly or syrup.

What Tools Can Help You Harvest and Process the Fruit?

Harvesting ornamental cherries is tedious because the fruit is small and clusters tightly. A few tools make the job easier.

• Cherry pitter — Essential for processing large quantities. Even a manual pitter speeds up the work dramatically.
• Fine mesh strainer — Useful for straining seeds and skin from cooked fruit for jelly or syrup.
• Kitchen scale — Helps measure fruit and sugar accurately for canning recipes.
• Canning jars and lids — If you make preserves, you need proper equipment to store them safely.

For harvesting, a berry picking rake can strip small fruit from branches quickly, though you will get some leaves mixed in. Alternatively, a pruning shear lets you cut small clusters to bring inside for sorting.

Should You Plant a Cherry Tree for Edible Fruit Instead?

If you love the idea of homegrown cherries and want reliable fruit, skip the ornamental varieties and plant a fruiting cherry tree instead. Dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties fit in smaller yards and still produce abundant fruit.

Popular home-garden sweet cherry varieties include:

• Stella — Self-pollinating, sweet, and reliable
• Lapins — Self-pollinating, large fruit, crack-resistant
• Bing — Classic sweet cherry, needs a pollinator partner
• Rainier — Yellow-red sweet cherry, excellent flavor, needs a pollinator

For tart cherries that are great for baking:

• Montmorency — Self-pollinating, the standard for pies and preserves
• North Star — Dwarf, self-pollinating, very cold hardy

All fruiting cherry trees produce lovely spring blossoms, though the flowers are less dense than those of ornamental varieties. If you want the best of both worlds, look for a variety labeled as both ornamental and fruiting, such as 'Sargent' or 'Nankeen' cherry, which offer good flowers and passable fruit.

Can You Eat the Cherries on a Cherry Blossom Tree Without Getting Sick?

You can safely eat the cherries from a cherry blossom tree as long as you avoid the pits and do not eat too many raw. The fruit will not taste good enough to make you want to eat a large amount anyway. For most people, the best use of ornamental cherry fruit is to leave it for wildlife or make a small batch of tart jelly. If you want sweet, juicy cherries for eating fresh or baking, plant a fruiting cherry tree and enjoy both the spring blossoms and the summer harvest.

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