Description
Cryptomeria – Japanese Cedar – Sugi –
There are 1 or 2 species of long lived, fast growing, evergreen, monoecious, coniferous trees, in this genus. They occur in forest in China and Japan. Its grown for its conical or columnar habit, it thick, straight fibrous, red-brown bark, and it narrowly, leathery, wedge shaped, light to dark green needle like leaves, which point forward in 5 ranked spirals around the shoots and overlap. Solitary, spherical female cones, ½-1 1/4″ long, have4 shield like scale, each with a central point and triangular teeth, and take 10 months to ripen. The ovoid male cones, ½” long, are clustered at the shoot tips. Male and female cones appear on the same tree. Use larger forms as specimens or for screening, The dwarf cultivars are effective accent plants for a conifer collection or in a large rock garden.
Tolerates most well drained soils, although it grows best in deep, fertile, moist but well drained, humus rich soil in a sheltered site in full sun or partial shade.
Prone to needle necrosis, branch dieback, root rot, and nematodes.
C. japonica ‘Compacta’ – Japanese Cedar – This compact, columnar, coniferous tree grows to 45′ feet tall. It can have a massive trunk with straight, vertical furrows. It produces short stiff bluish green leaves, to ½” long, turning bronze to brown in winter. Bears brown female cones, each scale with 3-5 seeds
Zones 6-9
