Habitat

• native to Japan
• zone 4 to 7

Habit and Form

• evergreen needle conifer tree; small to medium size
• 25 to 50' tall in U.S.
• as wide as tall
• young trees dense and conical
• older trees develop picturesque form
• become flat-topped with lower branches shorter than upper branches

Summer Foliage

• needles in 5's
• 1.5 to 2.5" long, stiff and twisted
• appear in brush-like tuft on branches
• bluish-green color

Autumn Foliage

• same as summer foliage

Flowers

• blooms in May
• small, yellow-green flowers in clusters

Fruit

• brownish-red 1.5 to 4" cones
• persist 6 or more years
• often produced in abundance evergreen on young trees

Bark

• smooth, gray when young
• stems greenish-brown, very slightly downy first year
• older bark dark gray, and scaly platy

Culture

• full sun is best
• relatively tolerant of most soils as long as well-drained
• somewhat salt tolerant

Landscape Uses

• specimen
• excellent needle evergreen for small residences
• especially effective in groups of 3 or 4
• useful along the coast because salt tolerant

Liabilities

• somewhat slow growing
• can suffer from the usual gamet of pine diseases, insects, disorders, but typically not badly bothered

ID Features

• needles in 5's
• blue-green, twisted needles, in brush-like clusters
• unique spreading, flat-topped mature form
• short "White Pine" type cones

Propagation

• seed moist stratified for 3 months
• cultivars grafted

Cultivars/Varieties

'Adcock's Dwarf' - A slow-growing bonsai-esque novelty, this 3' upright globe bears small needles clustered about the branch tips.

'Bergman' (also listed as 'Bergmani') - This architectural, compact upright form displays slightly twisted, blue-green needles. It forms a shrub or small tree.

'Glauca' - A very common form that grows to become a small to medium tree, this selection bears long twisted needles with bright blue color. A natural bonsai, the plant grows open with irregular branching. It usually displays a heavy crop of ornamental cones. 'Glauca Nana' is similar, but the plant is narrower with ascending branches; 'Glauca Brevifolia' has shorter, more curved needles with an open habit.

'Ogon Janome' - This is a rare variegated "Dragon's Eye" form with bands of yellow on the needles. 'Goldilocks' also bears colored needles, though in this case the blue needles have an overlay of yellow.