Habitat

• native to western China
• zone 4
• species not commonly cultivated

Habit and Form

• evergreen shrub
• habit is highly variable from an upright shrub to a prostrate dwarf
• most commonly a low growing shrub
• less than a foot to 25' tall
• slow to moderate growth rate
• medium texture

Summer Foliage

• needles are awl-like, with no scale-like leaves
• closely pressed to stem and overlapping
• arranged in whorls of 3
• needles are curves and pointed
• gray-green color
• old needles persist on stem

Autumn Foliage

• evergreen
• needles have a bronze or purple cast during cold months

Flowers

• dioecious or monoecious
• male flowers are yellow and female are green

Fruit

• elliptical cones
• 0.25" to 0.33" in diameter
• change from a reddish brown to almost black color when mature

Bark

• reddish brown coloring
• exfoliates in thin flakes, often quite dramatically
• only a significant ornamental feature on old specimens with a large, upright form

Culture

• easily transplanted
• tolerant of most conditions
• pH adaptable
• not tolerant of high humidity and heat
• full sun

Landscape Use

• specimen, possibly
• groundcover
• screen
• mass plantings
• container
• hedges
• foundation plantings

Liabilities

• susceptible to bagworm
• held dead needles can be unattractive

ID Features

• awl-shaped needles
• blue needle color
• branches erect even if low growing cultivar
• needles found in whorls of 3
• black mature fruits
• needle tips pointed
• dead needles persist
• exfoliating, shredded red-brown bark

Propagation

• by cuttings for cultivars

Cultivars/Varieties

'Blue Carpet' - This ground-hugging form develops into a dense carpet of silver-blue foliage. It reaches 1' tall and 4' wide and is a sport of 'Meyeri'.

'Blue Star' - A branch sport of 'Meyeri', this low rounded plant has increased in popularity over the past decade. It retains its bright blue foliage all year and forms a tight mound 3' tall and wide. The plant can also be trained as a standard to form a small tree, as seen below.

'Meyeri' - This is an old, common form which becomes a bushy, upright plant to 8' tall and narrower in width. The foliage is a bright blue, but the plant may discolor in winter and it retains unsightly dead needles with age. 'Golden Flash' and 'Gold Tip' are variegated sports with yellowish areas.

'Prostrata' - A slow-growing, ground-hugging plant, this selection grows under 1' tall and mounds in the center. The foliage is green with bluish bands on top.