''Chamaecyparis pisifera'' (Sawara cypress or Sawara ) is a species of

false cypress ''Chamaecyparis'', common names cypress or false cypress (to distinguish it from related cypresses), is a genus of conifers in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to eastern Asia (Japan and Taiwan) and to the western and eastern margins of t ...

, native to central and southern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, on the islands of

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

and

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

.Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Description

It is a slow-growing

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing to 35–50 m tall with a trunk up to 2 m in diameter. The

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

is red-brown, vertically fissured and with a stringy texture. The foliage is arranged in flat sprays; adult

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are scale-like, 1.5–2 mm long, with pointed tips (unlike the blunt tips of the leaves of the related ''

Chamaecyparis obtusa ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate climate, temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber ...

'' (hinoki cypress), green above, green below with a white

stoma In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek language, Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the Epidermis (botany), epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exc ...

tal 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 In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

are globose, 4–8 mm diameter, with 6–10 scales arranged in opposite pairs, maturing in autumn about 7–8 months after pollination.

Related species

A related cypress found on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, ''

Chamaecyparis formosensis ''Chamaecyparis formosensis'' (Formosan cypress, Taiwan cypress, Taiwan red cypress; Chinese: 紅檜/红桧 ''hóngguì, Taiwan pron. hóngkuài'') is a species of ''Chamaecyparis'', endemic to Taiwan, where it grows in the central mountains at ...

'' (Formosan cypress), differs in longer ovoid cones 6–10 mm long with 10–16 scales. The extinct

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

species '' Chamaecyparis eureka'', known from fossils found on

Axel Heiberg Island Axel Heiberg Island (, ) is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 32nd largest island in the world and Canada's seventh largest island. According to Statistics Canada, it ha ...

in Canada, is noted to be very similar to ''C. pisifera''.

Name

The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''pisifera'', "pea-bearing", refers to the small round green cones.

Uses

Timber

It is grown for its timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

s, shrines and baths, and making

coffin A coffin or casket is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, for burial, entombment or cremation. Coffins are sometimes referred to as caskets, particularly in American English. A distinction is commonly drawn between "coffins" a ...

s, 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.Dallimore, W., & Jackson, A. B. (1966). ''A Handbook of Coniferae and Ginkgoaceae'' 4th ed. Arnold.

Ornamental

It is also a popular ornamental tree in

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

s and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s, both in Japan and elsewhere in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

climates including western and central

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and parts of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. A large number of

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s 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'. In cultivation in the UK the following have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

(confirmed 2017): * 'Boulevard': , blue-green foliage * 'Filifera Aurea': rounded, needle-like golden foliage, to * 'Plumosa Compressa': dwarf to , soft mossy foliage on young plants * 'Sungold': rounded shrub to tall and wide, with needle-like lime green foliage Image:Grove of Sawara Cypress, Upton State Forest, MA.jpeg, Grove of 80-year-old trees Image:Sawara Falsecypress Chamaecyparis pisifera Sprig 3008px.jpg, Foliage and cones Image:Sawara Falsecypress Chamaecyparis pisifera Tree 2000px.jpg, Central trunk of a tree Image:Sawara Falsecypress Chamaecyparis pisifera Bark 2000px.jpg, Bark Image:Tree lined path to the Togakushi shrine1.jpg, Path in the

Togakushi Shrine The is a Shinto shrine in Togakushi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is at the base of Mount Togakushi () in Myōkō-Togakushi Renzan National Park. Shrines Togakushi Shrine consists of five shrines that can be visite ...

lined with ''C. pisifera'' Image:Chamaecyparis Pisifera bonsai.JPG, Bonsai example Image:Boulevard cypress.jpg, Foliage of the juvenile cultivar 'Boulevard', with soft feathery needle-like leaves Image:Chamaecyparis pisifera golden charm sawara cypress MN 2007.JPG, Cultivar 'Golden Charm' File:Filifera aurea.jpg, Cultivar 'Filifera aurea' File:Felifera Aurea leaves 201601 JAPAN.jpg, Leaves of the Filifera aurea File:2019-04-30 16 25 42 New spring needles on a Sungold Threadleaf Falsecyrpress along Tranquility Court in the Franklin Farm section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia.jpg, Cultivar 'Sungold'

References

External links

Conifers Around the World: Chamaecyparis pisifera - sawara cypress
{{Taxonbar, from=Q74068 pisifera Endemic flora of Japan Trees of Japan Five sacred trees of Kiso Least concern biota of Asia Least concern plants Garden plants of Asia Plants used in bonsai Ornamental trees Plants described in 1844 Taxa named by Philipp Franz von Siebold Taxa named by Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini