Brenda Woods, age 17, of Concord, N.H., for her question:

WHEN DID JAPAN SEND ITS FAMOUS CHERRY TREES?

In Washington, D. C., proudly planted in Potomac Park not far from the Washington Monument and around the Tidal Basin in front of the Jefferson Memorial are 2,000 flowering Japanese cherry trees that were a gift to the people of the United States from the people of Japan and delivered by the mayor of Tokyo in 1912.

Each spring the cherry trees present a display of beauty that thrills millions of visitors. The variety is a special one that features white and pink blossoms in great profusion.

To the Japanese, the cherry is sacred.

There are actually hundreds of varieties of garden cherries that are grown for their fruit in temperate climates in all parts of the world. They have ail come from two basic types of fruit bearing cherries: the sour cherry tree and the larger sweet cherry. A third type, the duke cherry, is a cross between the sweet and the sour.