A Herald of Spring on Central Avenue
Thanks to contributor Linda Hemmila for sending us this early February photo of a tree already singing its spring song in full voice.
Photos
Who needs a groundhog?
A sure sign of spring in El Cerrito is the return of plum blossoms. This tree on Central Avenue is chock full, as are many on Richmond Street and others in the area.
Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly referred to the tree as a cherry, an easy mistake to make. When reader comments questioned the identification, we turned to Tony Wolcott, the urban forestor for Albany, who kindly identified the tree as a flowering plum, specifically Prunus cersasifera ‘Krauter Vesuvius.’ Although Prunus cersasifera are sometimes referred to as "cherry plums," they are definitely plum trees, not cherry, he said. Cherry trees in this area are not yet in bloom, he said.
Jeff Lichtman
1:25 am on Sunday, February 12, 2012
I think this is a flowering plum tree.
Heidi Rand
7:13 am on Sunday, February 12, 2012
Jeff's right, it's an ornamental plum tree, like the one in my blog post. You can see a few as you drive up Barrett. Our plum tree is flowering now also, beautiful white petals, tree covered with honeybees.
http://elcerrito.patch.com/blog_posts/you-call-this-february
Linda Hemmila
10:11 am on Sunday, February 12, 2012
My mistake! This looks just like my cherry tree in my front yard. So I'd like to ask the experts; how do you tell the difference when they appear so similar?!
Jeff Lichtman
9:36 pm on Sunday, February 12, 2012
To me, the first clue is the shape of the tree. Cherry trees tend to have thicker trunks and are more rounded. Notice how angular the tree in this picture is, especially in the upper branches. Cherry blossoms also tend to be larger and more frilly than plum blossoms (although the size and shape of the individual flowers are hard to make out in this photo). The blossoms on most ornamental cherry trees around here are usually paler than those of the plums.
It's easier to tell the difference once the tree develops foliage. Most of the plums around here have purple leaves.
Charles Burress
12:17 am on Tuesday, February 14, 2012
We asked Tony Wolcott, urban forester for Albany. He said it's a plum. Cherry trees are not yet in bloom around here.