Habitat

• native to Japan and China
• zone 6

Habit and Form

• coniferous evergreen
• medium-sized tree
• 30' to 50' tall, 10' to 20' wide
• dense pyramidal shape

Summer Foliage

• foliage is simial to Thuja, but larger
• the scale-like leaves are bright or dark green above with white markings underneath
• scale-like leaves overlap forming flattened, rope-like shoots
• brachlets are arranged in opposite rows in flattened sprays

Autumn Foliage

• evergreen with little color change in winter

Flowers

• not of any ornamental significance

Fruit

• woody cones
• globe shaped, 0.5" to 0.75" long

Bark

• reddish brown
• furrowed into thin strips
• attractive when visible

Culture

• prefers moist, acid soil
• needs humid, cool air
• site plant out of sweeping, drying winds
• full sun to light shade

Landscape Uses

• rarely available
• as a specimen
• for the plant collector

Liabilities

• potential lack of cold hardiness in difficult zone 5 sites
• only adapted well to zones 6 and 7
• wind burn in windy locations
• hard to locate to purchase

ID Features

• evergreen
• pyramidal habit
• Thuja like scales, foliage with white markings on the leaf underside

Propagation

• by seed
• cuttings are easy to root

Cultivars/Varieties

var. hondai - This form is a wide-spreading, large tree with lustrous green, scale-like foliage arranged in dense branchlets. It reportedly grows much larger than the species and features larger cones.

'Aurescens' - Rarely offered, this cultivar sports yellow-gold foliage.

'Nana' (also known as 'Laetevirens') - The most common form in commerce, this plant assumes the proportions of a compact arborvitae. It is a dwarf, mounded plant which slowly reaches 3' tall and is clothed with rough scaly leaves which turn from bright green to bronzy-olive in winter.

'Variegata' - Often seen in the catalogs of specialty nurseries, this novelty form has creamy white regions arranged among the sprays of scale-like foliage. More than one clone probably resides under this name, as the habits of individual plants can vary widely.