The Strawberries and Cream Tree is a

graft hybrid In horticulture, a graft-chimaera may arise in grafting at the point of contact between rootstock and scion and will have properties intermediate between those of its "parents". A graft-chimaera is not a true hybrid but a mixture of cells, each w ...

cherry tree (of ''

Prunus avium ''Prunus avium'', commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, gean, or bird cherryWorld Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. is a species of cherry, a flowering plant in the rose family, R ...

'' and ''P. serrulata'' 'Kanzan') in

Backwell Backwell is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset and in 2011 had a population of 4,589. The village lies about southwest of Bristol, south of the A370 to Weston-super-Mare. The parish includes the hamlets of B ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, England. Planted on council land in the 1950s, it is noted for producing two distinct colours of

blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus '' Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such a ...

: pink blossom on one side of the tree and white on the other, when it blooms every spring. This gave rise to the name 'Strawberries and Cream Tree', which was coined by children of the village. It is one of only two reported examples of cherry-Kanzan graft hybrid trees in England; the other being in

Portchester Portchester is a locality and suburb northwest of Portsmouth, England. It is part of the borough of Fareham in Hampshire. Once a small village, Portchester is now a busy part of the expanding conurbation between Portsmouth and Southampton o ...

, Hampshire.

Botany

The Strawberries and Cream Tree is a native wild cherry tree (''

'') grafted with ''Prunus'' 'Kanzan', an ornamental cherry

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

from Japan. The wild cherry produces the white blossom, while the 'Kanzan' produces the pink blossom. The dual blossom gave rise to the name 'Strawberries and Cream Tree', coined by children of the village. Fruit trees tend to be grafted onto the

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

of a hardier tree variety, usually to provide them with additional water and nutrients. In the case of the Strawberries and Cream tree, the rootstock grew along with the tree, creating a graft hybrid.

History

The Strawberries and Cream Tree was planted on public land which is now owned by

North Somerset Council North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Cou ...

, on Rodney Road in the village of

. It is not known who originally planted and grafted the tree, but it is believed to have been planted in the late 1950s.

Tree preservation order

Due to its rarity, the Strawberries and Cream Tree was granted a six-month

tree preservation order A tree preservation order (TPO) is a part of town and country planning in the United Kingdom. A TPO is made by a local planning authority (usually a local council) to protect specific trees or a particular area, group or woodland from deliberate ...

on 14 December 2019. The order prevents the cutting down,

lopping Pruning is a horticultural, arboricultural, and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails the ''targeted'' removal of diseased, damaged, dead, ...

topping Topping may refer to: * Hill-topping, a mate-acquisition strategy amongst insects * Topping, slang term for capital punishment, especially hanging or beheading * Topping (surname), the name of several people * Topping (agriculture), a practice ...

of the tree without prior permission from the council. The order may be made permanent in the future.

References

{{Reflist Individual trees in England North Somerset