Chamaecyparis pisifera
Species of conifer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chamaecyparis pisifera (Sawara cypress or Sawara Japanese: サワラ, romanized: Sawara) is a species of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae.[2] It is native to central and southern Japan, on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū.[3][1]
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| Chamaecyparis pisifera | |
|---|---|
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| Chamaecyparis pisifera near Mount Bukō, Saitama, Japan | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnosperms |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Cupressales |
| Family: | Cupressaceae |
| Genus: | Chamaecyparis |
| Species: | C. pisifera |
| Binomial name | |
| Chamaecyparis pisifera | |
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.[3]
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.[3] 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.[4]
Name
The Latin specific epithet pisifera, "pea-bearing", refers to the small round green cones.[5]
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-coloured with a rich, straight grain, and is rot resistant.[6]
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'.[6]
In cultivation in the UK the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit[7] (confirmed 2017):[8]
- 'Boulevard':[9] 8 m (26 ft), blue-green foliage
- 'Filifera Aurea':[10] rounded, needle-like golden foliage, to 12 m (39 ft)
- 'Plumosa Compressa':[11] dwarf to 90 cm (35 in), soft mossy foliage on young plants
- 'Sungold':[12] 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'
