Flowering Cherry, variety Okame
March and April are the time of year when cherry blossoms and other spring flowers come out to play. Both the town and the UC Davis campus are filled with all sorts of flora but one of the most striking in elegance, color, and smell seems to be the cherry blossom. Surprisingly, they can be found all over the campus, however the flowers only stay out for about a week or so. Flowering cherries, like many other flowering trees, first produce flowers and then, as the flowering peak ends, produce leaves. When going around the campus, even if just zooming through on a bike, don't forget to take some time to appreciate these flowering trees.
Two of the flowers shown on this page are often confused with cherry blossoms. The white ones are probably almonds, and the pink ones below and to the left are probably plums. They're closely related and bloom at about the same time as the earliest flowering cherries. The pink blossoms at the right are true flowering cherries: Prunus 'Okame', a variety that blooms in February. Most others bloom in March.
Cherry trees, both ornamental and fruiting, are readily identified by the presence of two glands at the base of the leaf which excrete honeydew.
Plum tree between the Silo Parking Lot and Surge Buildings 
Almond tree in the front of Kemper Hall
