Chamaecyparis pisifera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Chamaecyparis pisifera foliage and cones
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Chamaecyparis pisifera (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl. |
Chamaecyparis pisifera is a conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to central Japan, commonly known as Sawara Cypress or Sawara. It is a slow-growing tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is red-brown. The leaves are scale-like, 2-4 mm long, with pointed tips (unlike the blunt tips of the leaves of the related Chamaecyparis obtusa (Hinoki Cypress), green above, green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The cones are globose, 4-8 mm diameter, with 6-10 scales arranged in opposite pairs.
A related cypress found on Taiwan, Chamaecyparis formosensis (Formosan Cypress), differs in longer ovoid cones 6-10 mm long with 10-16 scales.
[edit] Uses
It is grown for its high quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines and baths, and making coffins. The wood is lemon-scented and light-colored with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot resistant.
It is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates including western Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow or blue-green leaves, and forms with juvenile needle-like foliage; particularly popular cultivars include 'Plumosa', 'Squarrosa' and 'Boulevard'.
[edit] References and external links
- Conifer Specialist Group (1998). Chamaecyparis pisifera. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
- Arboretum de Villardebelle: close-up photo of cones
