Astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is now commander of the International Space Station, took cherry pits into space 5 years ago. Not just any cherry pits, they came from a 1,250-year-old historical tree called “Chujohimeseigan-zakura.”
A typical cherry tree blooms about a decade after sprouting from trees. The pits that were carried with Wakata into space however, are blooming after only four years.
Botanist Kaori Tomita says, “There is a theoretical possibility that the cosmic environment has had a certain impact on agents in the seeds that control budding and the growth process, but we have absolutely no answer as to why the trees have come into bloom so fast.”
The Chujohimeseigan-zakura’s flowers have around thirty petals each, but the space trees have only five. Botanist Takao Yoshimura says the tree is reverting back to it’s original wild species characteristics. We have yet to see other changes to these “space cherries.”