While some non-native ornamental cherry trees, such as Yoshino and Kwanzan, bear little or no fruit, other exotic fruit-bearing members of the Prunus genus, which have been introduced and cultivated since colonial times, naturalize from gardens into the wild. Sweet Cherry and Higan Cherry are now listed as invasive in Northern Virginia and 13 counties in Maryland, with other alien cherry species considered a threat.

Invasive: Weeping Higan Cherry flowers along Ladybank Lane near Ben Nevis Court in the Chantilly Highlands section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia
Photo Famartin / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Invasive: Weeping Higan Cherry flowers along Ladybank Lane near Ben Nevis Court in the Chantilly Highlands section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia
Photo Famartin / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Invasive: Prunus avium
Photo from Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/photos/cherry-prunus-prunus-avium-rosacea-4135179/

Invasive: Prunus avium
Photo Emőke Dénes / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

2020 Invasive Plant Factsheet (Legal Size):
Sweet Cherry & Higan Cherry (Prunus avium & P. subhirtella)