If You Visit Washington DC's Cherry Trees, Never Pick a Blossom
The cherry blossoms are blooming in Washington, D.C., and the federal city is receiving its annual influx of tourists eager to soak in the beauty of the iconic trees.
But tourists should enjoy the cherry blossoms from a healthy distance.
Peak bloom this year was between March 28 and March 31, according to Washington.org, with visitors from around the country and the world strolling through the Tidal Basin and near the monuments to see the marvelous works of God’s creative power.
As highlighted on Monday by Fox News, however, there are laws on the books keeping people from picking blossoms off the trees.
U.S. Code §1865 for the National Park Service says that there are penalties for “offenses relating to structures and vegetation.”
Those found guilty could be “imprisoned not less than 15 days nor more than one year, fined under this title but not less than $10 for each monument, statue, marker, guidepost, or other structure, tree, shrub, or plant that is destroyed, defaced, injured, cut or removed, or both.”
Fox News interviewed a number of tourists, most of whom rightly guessed that plucking off branches or flowers was probably not allowed, with some saying they think it’s fine to pick fallen bunches of flowers off the ground.
Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Park Service, advised tourists in a statement to Fox News, “Please don’t touch the blossoms. Don’t break branches off. Don’t climb the trees.”
“There are certainly offenses in the code and federal regulations about the use of natural resources,” he said.
Litterst added that if staff members see visitors harming the trees, they most often “use that as a teachable moment, not an opportunity to throw the book at them.”
The National Park Service controls the National Mall and Memorial Parks in D.C.
Though there are tough laws on the books related to the cherry blossoms, the plants are without a doubt worth protecting.
The more than 3,700 cherry blossom trees along the National Mall and the more than 18,000 on National Park Service property in D.C. come from a gesture of friendship from Japan made over a century ago, per Washington.org.
Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki gave the first cherry blossom trees to D.C. back in 1910.
Those trees largely died, but more than 3,000 new trees were sent in 1912 to replace them.
“A few dozen of the original Tidal Basin trees still bloom each year and have been supplemented with thousands more throughout the District,” the website noted.
Japan plans to repeat the historic gesture next year.
The Asian nation will give 250 new cherry blossom trees in 2026 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“The cherry blossoms continue to endure as a symbol of spring in the nation’s capital and friendship between the people of the U.S. and Japan,” Washington.org said.
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