Chamaecyparis pisifera

Chamaecyparis pisifera
	Chamaecyparis pisifera; Morton Arboretum acc. 745-27*4
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Cupressales
Family:	Cupressaceae
Genus:	Chamaecyparis
Species:	C. pisifera
Binomial name
	Chamaecyparis pisifera; (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl.

Chamaecyparis pisifera (Sawara cypress or Sawara Japanese: サワラ, romanized: Sawara) is a species of false cypress, native to central and southern Japan, on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū.^[2]^[1]

Description

It is a slow-growing coniferous tree growing to 35–50 m tall with a trunk up to 2 m in diameter. The bark is red-brown, vertically fissured and with a stringy texture. The foliage is arranged in flat sprays; adult leaves are scale-like, 1.5–2 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; they are arranged in opposite decussate pairs on the shoots. The juvenile leaves, found on young seedlings, are needle-like, 4–8 mm long, soft and glaucous bluish-green. The cones are globose, 4–8 mm diameter, with 6–10 scales arranged in opposite pairs, maturing in autumn about 7–8 months after pollination.^[2]

Related species

A related cypress found on Taiwan, Chamaecyparis formosensis (Formosan cypress), differs in longer ovoid cones 6–10 mm long with 10–16 scales.^[2] The extinct Eocene species Chamaecyparis eureka, known from fossils found on Axel Heiberg Island in Canada, is noted to be very similar to C. pisifera.^[3]

Name

The Latin specific epithet pisifera, "pea-bearing", refers to the small round green cones.^[4]

Uses

Timber

It is grown for its timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines and baths, and making coffins, though less valued than the timber of C. obtusa. The wood is lemon-scented and light-colored with a rich, straight grain, and is rot resistant.^[5]

Ornamental

It is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates including western and central 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 retaining the juvenile needle-like foliage; particularly popular juvenile foliage cultivars include 'Plumosa', 'Squarrosa' and 'Boulevard'.^[5]

In cultivation in the UK the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit^[6] (confirmed 2017):^[7]

'Boulevard':^[8] 8 m (26 ft), blue-green foliage
'Filifera Aurea':^[9] rounded, needle-like golden foliage, to 12 m (39 ft)
'Plumosa Compressa':^[10] dwarf to 90 cm (35 in), soft mossy foliage on young plants
'Sungold':^[11] rounded shrub to 3 m (9.8 ft) tall and wide, with needle-like lime green foliage

Grove of 80-year-old trees
Foliage and cones
Central trunk of a tree
Bark
Path in the Togakushi Shrine lined with C. pisifera

Bonsai example
Foliage of the juvenile cultivar 'Boulevard', with soft feathery needle-like leaves
Cultivar 'Golden Charm'
Cultivar 'Filifera aurea'
Leaves of the Filifera aurea
Cultivar 'Sungold'

References

^ ^a ^b Farjon, A. (2013). "Chamaecyparis pisifera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42213A2962099. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42213A2962099.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-068-4
^ Kotyk, M.E.A.; Basinger, J.F.; McIlver, E.E. (2003). "Early Tertiary Chamaecyparis Spach from Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic". Canadian Journal of Botany. 81 (2): 113–130. doi:10.1139/B03-007.
^ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 978-1845337315.
^ ^a ^b Dallimore, W., & Jackson, A. B. (1966). A Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae 4th ed. Arnold.
^ "RHS Plantfinder -". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
^ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 16. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
^ "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^ "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^ "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Compressa'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^ "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.

External links

Conifers Around the World: Chamaecyparis pisifera - sawara cypress.

[iucn_status_11_November_2021-1] Farjon, A. (2013). "Chamaecyparis pisifera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42213A2962099. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42213A2962099.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.

[farjon-2] Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-068-4

[Kotyk2003-3] Kotyk, M.E.A.; Basinger, J.F.; McIlver, E.E. (2003). "Early Tertiary Chamaecyparis Spach from Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian High Arctic". Canadian Journal of Botany. 81 (2): 113–130. doi:10.1139/B03-007.

[RHSLG-4] Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 978-1845337315.

[dj-5] Dallimore, W., & Jackson, A. B. (1966). A Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae 4th ed. Arnold.

[RHSPF-6] "RHS Plantfinder -". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)

[7] "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 16. Retrieved 24 January 2018.

[8] "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.

[9] "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Filifera Aurea'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.

[10] "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Plumosa Compressa'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.

[11] "RHS Plantfinder - Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold'". Retrieved 30 January 2018.

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