Block of the Month: Cherry leaves

In my opinion, there’s no place in the Overworld more glorious than a cherry grove biome. These stunning locations aren’t too easy to find – you’ll need to hunt them out in the foothills of mountainous regions. But when you find one, you’ll never want to leave – and that’s all thanks to our block of the month – cherry leaves.

As you might have already guessed, cherry leaves are the leaves of a cherry tree. They’re big, and pink, and only generate naturally in those groves we were just talking about – though you can always grab a sapling and take it home to grow a cherry tree in your own backyard.

These beautiful trees were added to the Overworld in the Trails & Tales update in June 2023, though developer Patrick Geuder had been planning and working on their implementation for about ten years before that. Guess they must be pretty complicated. 

That’s probably because they have a unique effect – unlike most other trees in Minecraft, bright pink blossoms will rain down from cherry leaves whenever you’re standing nearby. Combined with the pink flowers on the ground, there’s no more beautiful place to hang out.

Real-world cherry trees, for most of the year, aren’t pink at all. But during the spring they blossom spectacularly, and it’s this season that Minecraft’s cherry grove biome is emulating.

You’ll find blossoming cherry trees in most of the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere, but they’re best known in East Asia – China, Korea and Japan – where the blossoms (called “sakura”) rain down upon tourists throughout March and April.

There are no seasons in Minecraft, so luckily you can enjoy cherry blossoms year-round!