Good for underplanting. Early to drop leaves and usually a sparse fruiter, hence minimal litter issues. One of the largest cherries; probably the best one for street tree use and for fall color, less disease-prone than many, and reputedly the longest-lived and toughest.
UConn and UFL both say fast growth. Poor compartmentalizer of decay.
Druse claims cherry fragrance, but no other source I know of mentions any fragrance, so I have not so tagged. (I certainly *want* it to be true, as that's about the only thing holding this tree back compared to the other flowering cherries as far as I can tell.)
'Accolade', a hybrid with P. subhirtella, is shorter and wider, prettier in flower but not as resistant to diseases or as long-lived. 'JFS-KW58' is narrow and more compact, with showier flowers and more disease-free foliage that emerges two weeks later than the species. 'Spire' is cited for good fall color but suffers more from foliar diseases. 'Tiltstone Hellfire' is also known for fall color.
Sources: UFL, Sunset, Stoecklein, Cal Poly, Missouri BG, UConn, Druse, Dirr/Warren.
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