Japanese umbrella-pine is an evergreen conifer found wild only in Japan, and despite its name it is not a true pine: it is the last living species of its own family. Its glossy needles radiate from the branch tips like the ribs of an umbrella. In the US it is planted as an ornamental and does not grow wild, though fossils show its family was once widespread across the northern continents, especially Europe.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A slow-growing evergreen with a narrow, spire-like shape when young that broadens with age. Reddish-brown bark peels in long strips. In cultivation it usually reaches about 25–50 ft (8–15 m).
- Leaves
- Whorls of usually 10–25 (up to 40) flat, dark green, glossy needles, mostly 2.4–5.5 in (6–14 cm) long, sit at the ends of the shoots.
- Fruit
- Oval cones about 2.4–4.7 in (6–12 cm) long stay green the first year and ripen brown in the second.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- gardens and parks (planted)
- mountain ravine forests (Japan)
- Range
- Native only to Japan, on Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. In the US it is grown as an ornamental and does not grow wild.
- Preferred conditions
- In the wild it grows in cool, moist, rocky ravines in mixed forests at about 650–5,600 ft (200–1,700 m).
Growing it
- Care
- Hardy in about USDA zones 5–8. It likes rich, moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, shelter from harsh winter wind, and some afternoon shade where summers are hot. It does not tolerate drought or lime.
Name and classification
- Varieties and forms
- Dozens of cultivars exist, including dwarf, narrow, and golden or variegated forms.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NTNear ThreatenedCould become threatened before long
- Status
- Logging and replanting with other trees have broken wild stands in Japan into small, scattered groves, especially on Honshu.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- The name Sciadopitys combines the Greek words for umbrella and pine, and verticillata means whorled.
- It reached the United States in the early 1860s, brought by Dr. G. R. Hall, and it has been a prized specimen tree in American gardens since.
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.