Conifer trees occasionally mutate into unusual forms, often slow-growing natural dwarfs. Thousands of these have been in cultivation for centuries. The Arboretum has only a few in its collection, sadly neglected in grid 37-1W – a corner of the Oaks area.  Here are five examples:

Rare Care

1)  Chamaecyparis lawsoniana  ‘Lycopodioides’

• Translated: “a form of Lawson’s false cypress that looks like Lycopodium” – a genus of club moss that’s said to resemble a wolf’s foot.

2)  Chamaecyparis pisifera  ‘Plumosa Nana’                     Dwarf Sawara Cypress cv.

• Dwarf (nana), feathery (plumose), pea-bearing (pisifera) false cypress

3)  Cryptomeria japonica  ‘Bandai-Sugi’                     Japanese Cedar cv.

• The cultivar name has been shortened recently to ‘Bandai’ because Sugi is the Japanese word for Cryptomeria, therefore is redundant.
• All parts of the flower are hidden in this genus, hence Crypto (hidden) meria (parts).

4)  Picea abies  ‘Gregoryana parsonii’                Norway Spruce cv.

• See Arthur Lee Jacobson’s Trees of Seattle for an explanation of the botanic name.
• Jacobson notes that only Lawson’s Cypress has more cultivars than Norway Spruce.

5)  Tsuga canadensis  ‘Hussii’                Eastern Hemlock cv.

• Because of people’s tendency to call all conifers “pine” or “fir”, botanists adopted the Japanese name for hemlocks – Tsuga.  Does that sound too similar to ‘Sugi’?