Chamaecyparis pisifera

Chamaecyparis pisifera (Sawara cypress or Sawara Japanese: サワラ, romanized: Sawara) is a species of cypress in the genus Chamaecyparis , native to central and southern Japan, on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū.^{[2] [1]}

It is a slow-growing coniferous tree growing to 35–50 m tall with a trunk up to 2 m in diameter. The bark is red-brown, vertically fissured and with a stringy texture. The foliage is arranged in flat sprays; adult leaves are scale-like, 1.5–2 mm long, with pointed tips (unlike the blunt tips of the leaves of the related Chamaecyparis obtusa (hinoki cypress), green above, green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf; they are arranged in opposite decussate pairs on the shoots. The juvenile leaves, found on young seedlings, are needle-like, 4–8 mm long, soft and glaucous bluish-green. The cones are globose, 4–8 mm diameter, with 6–10 scales arranged in opposite pairs, maturing in autumn about 7–8 months after pollination.^[2]

A related cypress found on Taiwan, Chamaecyparis formosensis (Formosan cypress), differs in longer ovoid cones 6–10 mm long with 10–16 scales.^[2] The extinct Eocene species Chamaecyparis eureka , known from fossils found on Axel Heiberg Island in Canada, is noted to be very similar to C. pisifera.^[3]

The Latin specific epithet pisifera, "pea-bearing", refers to the small round green cones.^[4]

It is grown for its timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines and baths, and making coffins, though less valued than the timber of C. obtusa. The wood is lemon-scented and light-coloured with a rich, straight grain, and is rot resistant.^[5]

It is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates including western and central Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow or blue-green leaves, and forms retaining the juvenile needle-like foliage; particularly popular juvenile foliage cultivars include 'Plumosa', 'Squarrosa' and 'Boulevard'.^[5]

In cultivation in the UK the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit ^[6] (confirmed 2017):^[7]

• 'Boulevard':^[8] 8 m (26 ft), blue-green foliage
• 'Filifera Aurea':^[9] rounded, needle-like golden foliage, to 12 m (39 ft)
• 'Plumosa Compressa':^[10] dwarf to 90 cm (35 in), soft mossy foliage on young plants
• 'Sungold':^[11] rounded shrub to 3 m (9.8 ft) tall and wide, with needle-like lime green foliage

• Grove of 80-year-old trees
  Grove of 80-year-old trees
• Foliage and cones
  Foliage and cones
• Central trunk of a tree
  Central trunk of a tree
• Bark
  Bark
• Path in the Togakushi Shrine lined with C. pisifera
  Path in the Togakushi Shrine lined with C. pisifera

• Bonsai example
  Bonsai example
• Foliage of the juvenile cultivar 'Boulevard', with soft feathery needle-like leaves
  Foliage of the juvenile cultivar 'Boulevard', with soft feathery needle-like leaves
• Cultivar 'Golden Charm'
  Cultivar 'Golden Charm'
• Cultivar 'Filifera aurea'
  Cultivar 'Filifera aurea'
• Leaves of the Filifera aurea
  Leaves of the Filifera aurea
• Cultivar 'Sungold'
  Cultivar 'Sungold'

• Conifers Around the World: Chamaecyparis pisifera - sawara cypress.

• IUCN Red List least concern species
• Chamaecyparis
• Endemic flora of Japan
• Trees of Japan
• Five sacred trees of Kiso
• Least concern biota of Asia
• Least concern plants
• Garden plants of Asia
• Plants used in bonsai
• Ornamental trees
• Plants described in 1844
• Taxa named by Philipp Franz von Siebold
• Taxa named by Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini

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• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with 'species' microformats
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Taxonbars with automatically added basionyms
• Taxonbars with 25–29 taxon IDs