Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress

Cypress

Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...

 native to central Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

It is a slow-growing tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

 which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is dark red-brown. The leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are scale-like, 2-4 mm long, blunt tipped (obtuse), green above, and green below with a white stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf. The cones

Conifer cone

A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...

 are globose, 8-12 mm diameter, with 8-12 scales arranged in opposite pairs. The related Chamaecyparis pisifera

Chamaecyparis pisifera

Chamaecyparis pisifera Chamaecyparis pisifera Chamaecyparis pisifera (Sawara Cypress or Sawara is a species of false cypress, native to central and southern Japan, on the islands of Honshū and Kyūshū....

(Sawara Cypress) can be readily distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves and smaller cones.

A similar cypress found on Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 is treated by different botanists as either a variety of this species (as Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana) or as a separate species Chamaecyparis taiwanensis

Chamaecyparis taiwanensis

Chamaecyparis taiwanensis is a species of cypress, native to the mountains of Taiwan, where it grows at altitudes of 1300–2800 m.-Description:...

; it differs in having smaller cones (6-9 mm diameter) with smaller scales, and leaves with a more acute apex.

Cultivation and uses

It is grown for its very high quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palace

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

s, temple

Temple

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

s, shrines, traditional noh

Noh

, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...

theatres, baths, table tennis

Table tennis

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

 blades and masu

Masu (Japanese)

A was originally a square wooden box used to measure rice in Japan during the feudal period. Masu existed in many sizes, typically covering the range from one to to five gō...

. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, and is highly rot-resistant.

For example, Horyuji Temple and Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle

is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan.Originally called Ozakajō, it is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.-Description:...

 are built from Hinoki wood. The hinoki grown in Kiso

Kiso River

The is a river in Japan roughly 193 km long, flowing through the prefectures of Nagano, Gifu, Aichi, and Mie before emptying into Ise Bay a short distance away from the city of Nagoya. It is the main river of the Kiso Three Rivers and forms a major part of the Nōbi Plain...

, used for building Ise Shrine

Ise Shrine

is a Shinto shrine dedicated to goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami, located in the city of Ise in Mie prefecture, Japan. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is in fact a shrine complex composed of a large number of Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and ....

, are called 御神木 Go-Shin-boku "Tree where god stayed".

It is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

 climates, including western Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s have been selected for garden planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow leaves, and forms with congested foliage. It is also often grown as bonsai

Bonsai

is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...

.

Hinoki (and sugi) pollen is a major cause of hay fever in Japan.

Cultivars

Over 200 cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s have been selected, varying in size from trees as large as the wild species, down to very slow-growing dwarf plants under 30 cm high. A few of the best known are:

• 'Crippsii' makes a broad conic golden-green crown with a vigorous leading shoot, growing to 15–20 m or more tall.
• 'Flabelliformis' is a dwarf growing with pale green leaves.
• 'Kosteri' is a dwarf with brilliant green foliage.
• 'Lycopodioides' reaches up to 19 m tall, with somewhat fasciated
  Fasciation
  Fasciation is a condition of plant growth in which the apical meristem, normally concentrated around a single point, producing approximately cylindrical tissue, becomes elongated perpendicularly to the direction of growth, producing flattened, ribbon-like, crested, or elaborately contorted tissue...
  
  foliage.
• 'Minima' under 10 cm after 20 years with mid-green foliage.
• 'Nana Aurea' has golden tips to the fans and a bronze tone in winter.
• 'Nana Gracilis' has crowded fans of tiny branches producing richly textured effects; it is often cited as a dwarf but has reached 11 m tall in cultivation in Britain.
• 'Nana Lutea' A compact, slow-growing, golden yellow selection which has become very popular. A yellow counterpart to 'Nana gracilis'.
• 'Spiralis' is an erect, stiff dwarf tree.
• 'Tempelhof' which grows to 2–4 metres has a green-yellow foliage that turns bronze in winter.
• 'Tetragona Aurea' grows to around 18 m tall, with a narrow crown and irregular branching, the scale leaves in 4 equal ranks and branchlets tightly crowded, green and gold.