The winter-flowering cherry (Prunus x subhirtella) at the end of our road had been caught in a blizzard for months, flurries of flowers hanging from its bare branches like snowflakes that had forgotten to melt. Now its blossom has mostly fallen and turned to slush, but further along the bank, cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) flowers are unfurling – five snow‑white petals pushing against the protective enclosure of green sepals until the rounded sepals open and arch backwards, where each remains, reflexed, barely touching the two adjacent petals at its base.
This parting of the ways helps distinguish cherry plum from its near neighbour, blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) – a common misidentification in early spring. Blackthorn usually blooms a few weeks later and has sepals that remain flush to the underside of the opened petals.
